Ten suspects have been detained in a large-scale raid to break an international people-smuggling ring that illegally brought Chinese nationals into Germany, authorities said.
More than 1,000 officers from the federal police and other law enforcement agencies were involved in the early Wednesday operation that spanned eight states.
A total of 101 residential and business premises were searched, including two law firms, federal police in Sankt Augustin near Bonn said.
Taking advantage of special rules for foreign skilled workers, the suspected smuggling gang is said to have obtained residence permits for around 350 mostly Chinese nationals in return for five and six-figure euro sums.
Raids were carried out in North Rhine Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Berlin, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. Assets were also seized and other evidence collected.
The investigation in centred on the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, where the 10 suspects - including two lawyers - were taken into custody.
In 2022, federal law enforcement agencies registered 4,936 cases of people smuggling across Germany - an increase of almost 30% compared to the previous year.
