BRUSSELS, Aug 6 (Reuters) – ⁠European ⁠police arrested three ⁠suspected members of Syrian ​smuggling networks after an operation spanning ‌Germany and Serbia, ‌Europol said on ⁠Thursday.

The ⁠arrests come as Europe grapples with the aftermath ​of last week’s crisis when more than 70,000 migrants surged ​into the Spanish North African enclave ⁠of ⁠Ceuta from Morocco.

“Investigators ⁠targeted ​senior members of two interconnected Syrian criminal ​networks ⁠believed to have organised the smuggling of more than 900 migrants into the European ⁠Union,” the pan-European police body said in ⁠a statement.

Those arrested included a 26-year-old Syrian in Germany and a 31-year-old Syrian in Belgrade, along with another suspect in the Serbian capital.

The networks are accused of moving ⁠migrants into Europe since 2022 via Mediterranean crossings from Libya and along the Balkan route.

(Reporting ​by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing ​by Ros Russell)

Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

Photos You Should See: August 2026

TOPSHOT - Members of the Spanish Army's 'Regulares' infantry forces watch a group of migrants near the border post of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on August 2, 2026. At least 72 people died during last week's mass influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta enclave, when tens of thousands of people mostly swam around the border post from Morocco, local officials said today. Most of the estimated 60,000 people who rushed into Spain's north African territory have returned to Morocco since the territory's largest mass migrant crossing. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP via Getty Images)