Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács told public television channel M1 that while in 2010 only about 150 cases of people smuggling were recorded, this year, to date already 535 cases have been uncovered. This shows that parallel to the migration wave, organised crime is also on the increase, he said.
The Government Spokesperson noted that it is interesting to look at the people smuggling figures of the past years: last year, there were about 350 cases, this year until September-October 535 were uncovered; Police forces and border patrol police units have caught 1168 people smugglers so far.
Mr. Kovács emphasised that the border barrier has delivered the expected results, as only a fraction of the former number of illegal migrants arrive in Hungary these days – about a dozen people daily.
“Global migration is an enormous global business”, the Government Spokesperson said adding that according to a German study, people smuggling has been a EUR 16 billion business over the last 13-15 years in Europe”.