Trouble Mounts: People-Smuggling Afghan "Dons" Infiltrate Europe

There is still enormous migratory pressure at Hungary's southern border, and militarily-trained migrants wanting to enter or already in Europe pose a potential terrorist threat - this is one of the issues discussed by Lieutenant Colonel Gabor Balog in an interview with Magyar Nemzet. The head of the unit for Combating International Crime also said that his foreign colleagues admit that Europe would be in much graver trouble if there were no Hungarian border fence.

Balog Gábor r. alezredes 20231018 Magyar Nemzet Fotó: Bach Máté

A month ago, a new chief was put in charge of the international crime unit within the National Investigations Bureau of the Special Police Force (KR NNI),  In an interview with Magyar Nemzet, Lieutenant Colonel Gabor Balog, who is the head of the unit, which also combats illegal migration, said that he inherited a well-prepared team of department heads and staff from his predecessor, Colonel Zoltan Boross, who was recently appointed chief of Komarom-Esztergom County Police.

"Europe would have been in more trouble if it weren't for the Hungarian fence,"  (Photo: Mate Bach)

Southern border under incredible pressure

The lieutenant colonel is not a newcomer to this area, as prior to the current assignment, he was the head of the anti-illegal migration unit within the department and had participated in several successful investigations.

"We are capable of detecting serious crimes and are determined to face the challenges. There is no shortage of the latter, it is enough to say that the number of illegal migration-linked police interventions this year has already exceeded 170,000. The pressure is constant, especially on the southern border, where thousands a day try to enter from Serbia.

Colleagues guarding the border are regularly attacked, and the migrants use every object they can find against them: stones, pieces of wood, but there was also a case when an iron rod was thrown through the windshield of the patrol car, which landed on the shotgun seat.

It came that close to ending in tragedy. It was also close in the case when an assault rifle was fired on our colleagues," the lieutenant colonel stressed, adding that these attacks are led by well-trained people smugglers:

"They are Afghans of migrant background on the territory of Serbia. There was previously also a strong Moroccan criminal organization present, but fighting between competing smuggling groups has resulted in the Afghans ruling the field. We understand that these gang clashes on the Serbian side are ongoing, as the recent case in the recent case in Horgos confirms. We also know from information from our Serbian colleagues - with whom we have excellent cooperation - that the weapons used in the killings are typically obtained in Kosovo by Arab criminal organizations."

The Taliban brand name

We have also seen that the person escorting migrants on the Serbian side, was posing in Afghan military uniform with a gun in his hand in previous photos. From their activity, we can conclude that they are organized. We observe coordinated attacks happening simultaneously, in several locations,

Gabor Balog pointed out, stressing that  

there is also evidence that many of the people involved in people smuggling are using the so-called 313 group "brand name".

The name can be traced back to the Taliban takeover in 2021, there were combat groups like Corps 313. Adopting the name highlights their strength so that migrants use their services and is also advertised on various social media platforms. The rival group called 40-059, which also has guns and hand grenades, does the same.

Migrants left to die

The head of the international crime unit added that aggression is not only prevalent at the border, but also deep in Hungary, where smugglers transporting mostly migrants who have made it across the border, do not stop despite police warnings, and in many cases cause fatal accidents with their vehicles.

"I would also note here, that illegal migrants are being transported in appalling conditions, without regard for the risk of being killed in the process. There have been multiple instances of this, with ongoing investigations into homicides from failure to provide assistance. I'll give you an example: migrants get sick in a vehicle, they are dropped off and left there, they do not call for medical assistance, they are left to die. We have seen unimaginable tragedies," added the lieutenant colonel.  

"Aggression is experienced not only at the border" (Photo: Mate Bach)

Potential threat of terrorism

The international crime unit head also explained that many of the captured migrants have had military training, as it is still typical that eighty to ninety percent of migrants who want to cross the border are men between the ages of twenty and forty.

According to the lieutenant colonel, they and those already within Europe pose a potenctial terrorist threat.

 Afghan mafia dons move to Europe

"The grave danger is that we don't know how many more migrants of malicious intent are arriving in the countries of destination. These criminal gangs of people smugglers are linked to terrorist organisations and are do their dirty work. This stems from the fact that human smuggling offers huge profits, it's a much more lucrative business than drug trafficking," stressed Gabor Balog, who also pointed out that the "dons" operating the human trafficking mafia in Afghanistan are increasingly moving their headquarters to European countries along the illegal migration routes:

It is very difficult to take action against them, since they are not directly in contact with illegal migrants and human smugglers, but a few months ago, we managed to uncover an international human smuggling network, managed and operated by a person of Libyan origin here in Hungary, and thus we managed to capture the Arab chief Abu Mariam, a wanted man all over Europe.

Hungary' border fence: indispensable

Despite the constant barrage of criticism Hungary was subjected to for the construction of the southern border fence, the lieutenant colonel also stated that he had always received positive feedback from his foreign colleagues.

"Those we collaborate with in combating international crime, be they from the Serb, Austrian, German, French, Slovak, Polish or Czech police, all express gratitude to Hungary for its help and say that Europe would have been in much graver trouble if it had not been for the Hungarian fence. Many of these countries are also sending reinforcements to our border, for which we thank them very much." 

Cover photo: Lieutenant Colonel Gabor Balog, Head of the International Crime Unit (Photo: Mate Bach)