Taliban-Linked People Smugglers Bring Violence and Lawlessness to Serbian-Hungarian Border Region

The Taliban intelligence service is already controlling people-smuggling Afghan groups operating in Vojvodina, with the ultimate aim of ending inter-gang fighting and taking full control of the industry, according to a newly released national security report. The massive profits from the business are likely to also be channeled by the Taliban leadership into financing terrorism, which poses a significant risk.

Migránsok Horgos központjában (Fotó: MTI/Molnár Edvárd)

Hungary's national security report, which was declassified and made public this week, essentially shows the links between illegal migration and terrorism. Perhaps one of the key parts of the document is that the leadership of people-smuggling Afghan groups operating in Vojvodina have been taken under the direct control of the Taliban government. 

At the same time, battles for the redistribution of the market began among the increasingly radicalized groups. Individuals in various gangs are related to members of the Afghan Taliban government and one of its militant factions the Haqqani network, which is designated as a terrorist organization.

According to the report, security risks emerge in the presence of criminal networks whose members are unscrupulous and openly engage in violence. The groups in question have brought from home an attitude that attacking and defeating an enemy soldier means glory.  

One group is no longer recruiting clients on TikTok. With videos that resemble the style of footage previously released by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, they are primarily showcasing their own fighting strengths. 

Recently, these groups turned their weapons on Serbian police for the first time. The so-called readiness to use violence has now spread to the border, as smugglers and associates have also targeted Hungarian border guards, but no personal injuries have been reported. 

Furthermore, verbal threats and guns being drawn on border guards have become a regular daily occurrence.

It is cause for concern, the national security report states, that the Taliban has brought not only the financial aspect, but also the operative organizational aspect of the human smuggling activity under its control - especially in the Serbian-Hungarian border area. Their goal is to put an end to the internal disputes between Afghan-background groups, and to take complete control over the transferal of financial resources - that is, the Taliban government will use the massive income from human trafficking at its own discretion, and even use it for financing terrorism.

To better understand what has happened, it is worth recalling that after the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021 and took control of Afghanistan, the country was transformed into one of the world's leading powers in various criminal activities, including money laundering, drug trafficking and extortion.

Their financial operations are greatly facilitated by the hawala system, which operates outside the formal banking sector. It includes a network that allows money to be transferred between individuals and businesses across borders.

In short, in order to send a certain amount of money to someone, one goes to a hawaladar and gives them the amount. The intermediary then notifies his colleague in the other city or country, telling him who to pay and how much, at a commission. All the beneficiary has to do is collect the designated amount.   

The trust-based nature of the system makes it difficult to identify the source and destination of funds, making it an effective way for terrorist organizations to move money around the world. 

Cover photo: Migrants in the center of Horgos, Serbia (Photo: MTI/Edvard Molnar)