Europol Arrests 15 Individuals for Facilitating Illegal Migration Through Sham Marriages

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Europol arrested 15 people, mainly from India, Pakistan, and Portugal, involved in orchestrating illegal migration to the EU through fraudulent marriages.
• The criminals facilitated fraudulent marriages in municipalities such as Aradippou, Livadia, and Nicosia, Cyprus.
• The criminal activities, involving 133 marriages of convenience, allowed non-EU nationals to obtain residence permits and travel to other EU countries.

A recent operation carried out under Europol’s Operational Task Force (OTF) Limassol and the support of Eurojust dismantled a criminal network responsible for orchestrating illegal migration to the European Union through fraudulent marriages.

This joint operation resulted in a total of 15 arrests, with 13 people caught in Cyprus, one in Latvia, and another in Portugal. Four arrested suspects have been identified as high-value targets, spread across two in Cyprus, one in Latvia, and one in Portugal.

The individuals involved in the criminal network came mainly from India, Pakistan, and Portugal. Through a statement, Europol also noted that significant seizures were made during the operation, including the confiscation of electronic equipment and essential documentation related to the illegal activities of the dismantled network.

These citizens coordinated the purchase of flight tickets, passports, and other necessary documents. The fraudulent marriage ceremonies were strategically held in Aradippou, Livadia, and Nicosia, Cyprus municipalities.

The OTF conducted extensive work, leading to searches and apprehensions within Cyprus and the capture of two key organisers in Latvia and Portugal. Their arrests were made possible through European Arrest Warrants issued by Cyprus.

The OTF’s activities led to the identification of several perpetrators, suspicious transactions and a total of 133 marriages of convenience between Portuguese and Latvian women and Indian and Pakistani men. The marriages enabled the non-EU nationals to obtain residence permits from third countries, which they then used to travel to other European countries.

Europol

Europol played a crucial role throughout the action day by actively supporting field operations. The authority also crosschecked operational information collected during the operation and provided operational analysis to furnish investigators on the ground with potential leads.

A total of nine cases were initiated at Eurojust between 2022 and 2024 to facilitate the execution of European Investigation Orders and European Arrest Warrants. At the same time, Eurojust played a pivotal role in organising dedicated coordination meetings and facilitating judicial cooperation among the authorities involved during the action day.

In a cooperative effort in November 2023, Greek and Belgian authorities, together with Europol and Eurojust, dismantled a criminal organisation that was illegally transporting migrants from Athens to Northern Europe.

This operation led to the capture of 11 people, with eight arrested in Belgium, two in Greece, and one in Sweden. Enforcement also included the execution of 16 search warrants, 12 carried out in Belgium and four in Greece.