PHOTO: Tunisian man managed Hungarian people smugglers from abroad

Hungarian authorities are searching for a Tunisian man who, having been expelled from Hungary, managed a gang of Hungarian people smugglers from abroad, law enforcement agencies said on the police website.

Four Hungarian men are suspected of aiding the transport of more than 60 migrants to western Europe on nine occasions in May and June 2020, according to the statement on police.hu.

At the time, investigators succeeded in identifying members of the gang but were unsure about who was controlling it. After 18 months, they identified its leader, Mohamed Abdelhak, 44.

Mohamed Abdelhak, the Tunisian man who managed Hungarian people smugglers from abroad. Source: police.hu

In 2017, Abdelhak was sentenced in Hungary to 3 years and 6 months in prison for people smuggling and was deported for 5 years after his release on parole. He departed on a plane in the summer of 2019, but continued his criminal activities from Tunisia via the internet, managing the four Hungarian men in the spring and summer of 2020.

The prosecutor’s office of Tolna County, which is supervising the investigation, charged Abdelhak in absentia. The authorities are still seeking the man under a national, European and international arrest warrant, the statement said.