Findings from international organisations that fights against human trafficking has shown that human trafficking is an organised crime that involves two or more persons in the illicit trade.
In Finland, a transnational organised crime group is suspected of smuggling 12 Afghan nationals into the country between May and December 2019 and illegally transporting them to Germany in return for thousands of euros, this was contained in the report from Turku crime prevention unit of the West Finland Coast Guard, Helsinki Times says.
According to the report, Police have completed preliminary investigations, which revealed that a 30-year-old Afghan man transported people by plane from Athens, Greece to Lappeenranta, eastern Finland.
The trafficking suspect is thought to have been paid as much as 3,000 euros to provide counterfeit documents and flight tickets. Men, women and one child were smuggled across the borders over a total of six separate trips during the eight-month period, Helsinki Times reports. It was also reported that the suspect was previously convicted on charges of human trafficking in Austria, for which he served jail time, and has been accused of similar crimes in Germany. Both Austria and Germany have stringent laws for human trafficking.
More also, Police believe that at least two other people were involved in illegally transporting people into Finland, but are unable to provide details regarding their identity. Initially, the case was investigated as aggravated arrangement of illegal immigration, and has now been handed over to the Prosecution District of Southern Finland, the report says
