Security agents in Germany broke up a human smuggling ring that were bringing in people to Germany with the use of dead people’s passports.
According to the Associated Press, the ring were charging people from Syria and other countries up to $6,830 (€5,000) for passports of dead people. These passports would be used to gain entry into Germany. While raiding several buildings in Berlin, police found passports from Germany, Morocco, and Egypt.
(See more prices and information about fake passports and fake ids.)
Source: Associated Press, “German funeral home sold passports of the dead,” Yahoo News May 15, 2014.
In 2013, criminal justice programs in the Netherlands investigated 175 cases of human smuggling across the country. The number of smuggling cases were an increase of 25 percent from the human smuggling cases investigated in 2012.
An estimated 1,500 people are residing in the Netherlands without proper documents or visas. Most of these individuals originated from Afghanistan and Syria. Security officials state that most of the people are attempting to continue onto Germany, Scandinavia or France.
The Royal Military Police also investigated 122 human trafficking cases in the Netherlands in 2013. The trafficking cases increased by 10 percent from 2012.
(Price of human traffickers and victims when sold.)
Source: Mazime Zech, “More Human Trafficking Last Year,” NL Times, March 21, 2014.
The average age of a crystal meth user in Germany is 20, according to a study commissioned by the Health Ministry. Most of the crystal meth abusers first tried the drug between the ages of 16 to 20.
Half of the people interviewed in the survey stated that they took crystal meth to deal with job stress or school stress. (Additional facts about crystal meth users.)
Statistics from criminal justice departments across the country showed that 2,556 people were classified as new meth users in Germany in 2012. The number of new meth users was up by 51 percent from the previous year.
(How much does meth cost?)
Source: “Children, 11, taking crystal meth,” The Local, March 12, 2014.
In the first half of 2013, security officers in Germany seized 1.4 million counterfeit drugs. The number of fake medicines seized was 15 percent higher than the amount seized in the first half of 2012.
According to security experts, the profit margin for a counterfeit drug such as fake Viagra can be as high as 25,000 percent.
Source: Heimo Fischer, “Fat profits behind steady rise in fake drugs worldwide,” Deutsche Welle, September 30, 2013.
According to a 2010 study, 78 percent of the sex workers in Austria are not Austrian women and are from foreign countries. In Germany, 63 percent of the sex workers were foreign women, with two thirds of the sex workers originating from Central and Eastern Europe. Previously, the number of foreign sex workers in Germany was 52 percent in 1999.
In total, there are about 400,000 prostitutes working in Germany, with 93 percent being female.
Germany legalized prostitution in 2002, and prostitution in Austria has been taxed since 1986.
Source: Clare Speak, “Out in the open: Forms of legal prostitution heighten human trafficking risks in poorer EU states,” Prague Post, May 22, 2013.
According to art experts in Europe, as of 2013 there are still roughly 100,000 artworks that were stolen by the Nazis that are still missing. The value of the artwork based on modern-day valuations is $10 Billion.
(More art crimes and theft.)
Source: Patricia Cohen and Tom Mashberg, “Family, ‘Not Willing to Forget,’ Pursues Art It Lost to Nazis,” New York Times, April 26,2013.
The Office of the German Drug Czar reported that there were 2,556 identified crystal meth users in the country in 2012. The number of users was higher higher than the 1,693 crystal meth abusers identified in 2011. (See more facts about meth addiction.)
Criminal justice agencies in Germany seized over 75 kilograms of crystal meth in 2012, up from the 40 kilograms that was seized in 2011.
Officials state that most of the crystal meth use in German is focused inn border states with the Czech Republic, where the drug is produced.
In total, there were 19,559 illegal drug users in Germany in 2012, down from the 21,315 users in 2011.
(Cost of crystal meth per gram.)
Source: Associated Press, “German authorities report rise in crystal meth use in states bordering Czech Republic,” Montreal Gazette, April 25, 2013.
A survey conducted by KPMG found that an estimated 65.5 billion illegal cigarettes are sold in the European Union each year. EU member states lose an estimated $16.3 Billion (€12.5 Billion) in total tax revenue due to the illicit trade.
In Germany, one in five cigarettes smoked does not get taxed.
Source: “German tobacco sales decrease as smuggling is up,” Deutsche Welle, April 22, 2013.
In 2011, criminal justice agencies in the European Union seized 2.1 million counterfeit toys. According to a breakdown by Toy News, five countries in the EU accounted for 57 percent of those seizures.
Top five EU member states where fake toys were seized in 2011:
1. Romania: 319,174 counterfeit toys seized.
2. Germany: 308,506 counterfeit toys seized.
3. France: 212,273 counterfeit toys seized.
4. Spain: 193,149 counterfeit toys seized.
5. Bulgaria: 181,838 counterfeit toys seized.
Source: Dominic Sacco, “Romania is counterfeit toy capital of Europe,” Toy News, April 18, 2013.
In 2011, police in Germany seized 1.4 tons of methamphetamine and amphetamine within the country, a record amount of seizures.
In addition to an increase in trafficking, the number of first-time crystal meth users in Germany identified by the criminal justice industry increased by 163 percent in 2011.
(More meth facts and arrests figures.)
Source: Joel Stonington, “New Exhibit Highlights Germany’s Growing Meth Problem,” Spiegel Online, July 6, 2012.
