The European Union law enforcement agency says police forces across the continent have finished a two-year investigation into a "massive" criminal ring that was using trucks to smuggle migrants into Western Europe.
Europol said on November 14 that police in Romania detained four suspected members of the gang, which smuggled nearly 580 migrants from outside Europe through the city of Timisoara in western Romania and then westward.
Numerous migrants have lost their lives in recent years after being crammed into truck-trailers, lacking enough air or water, for the journey across Europe.
Europol said the probe was launched by German police last year and also involved authorities in Austria, Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Britain.
The agency said the gang was composed of at least 36 people who earned more than 2 million euros ($2.2 million).
Europol Says Breaks Up Migrant-Smuggling Ring
Numerous migrants have lost their lives in recent years after being crammed into truck-trailers. (file photo)