Czech police break up an international ring smuggling at least 1,000 migrants to western Europe

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech police say they have broken up an international ring suspected of smuggling migrants from Turkey to western Europe. They said on Tuesday that 14 suspects — 13 foreigners whose countries of origin were not identified and one Czech citizens — have been arrested in raids across the Czech Republic in recent days. They allegedly organized a transport of at least 1,000 illegal migrants since 2021, earning at least 1 million euros, or about $1.1 million. The smugglers face up to 16 years in prison if tried and convicted. The migrants have been using Czechia, as the country is also known, as a transit route on their way to the West and they mostly don’t apply for asylum there.