Hungarian and Romanian authorities arrest leader of people smuggling ring

Hungarian and Romanian authorities have arrested a Romanian national suspected of leading the regional unit of an international people smuggling ring, the Budapest prosecutor’s office, which had initiated the issuance of the international arrest warrant, said on Thursday.

The Romanian man founded a smuggling ring operating primarily in Hungary, Romania and Austria in or before February 2022, which was linked to a larger international ring, the statement said.

The Hungarian procedure has ten suspects, all Hungarian or Romanian citizens, suspected of smuggling illegal entrants from Romania and Serbia to Austria via Hungary, the statement said. They transported people in extremely poor conditions that led to the death of one man in August 2022, it said.