German police hunt people-smugglers, raid homes in four states

Police have searched property in four German states in a major raid against suspected members of a people-smuggling gang.
An interior ministry spokesman said the operation carried out on Wednesday in North Rhine Westphalia, Hesse, Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein was aimed at executing several European arrest warrants.
The German ministry said police authorities in France and Belgium also participated.
The suspects were said to have been involved in smuggling people across the English Channel.
The spokesman announced that the operation focused on the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Europol confirmed that the operation involved several European countries.
However, details would not be provided until the afternoon, a spokeswoman for the police authorities said.
(dpa/NAN)
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