People smuggling

Europol chief says people smugglers at record levels as criminal gangs move in

Law enforcement agencies are battling a surge in the number of people smugglers to record levels as criminal networks cash in on Europe's escalating migrant crisis, according to the head of the European Union's police agency Europol.

Director Rob Wainwright said the crime-fighting agency now had close to 50,000 suspected people smugglers in its database, with an extra 7,000 suspects added in the first half of 2016.

He said the number of people seeking to make money out of the thousands of people fleeing to Europe to escape conflict and poverty was picking up pace, with 6,400 new suspects identified by Europol in 2014 and 10,000 during 2015.

Wainwright said people smugglers were deploying more sophisticated techniques to evade tighter border controls in Europe and increasingly pairing human trade with drug trafficking.