The operation, which has now concluded, involved customs officers, federal police, and tax investigators working in concert, according to the Offenburg Federal Police. However, authorities have not yet disclosed key details about the raid’s outcomes, including whether any arrests were made, the number of properties searched, or what evidence was secured.

Geographic Scope of the Operation

The operation concentrated primarily on Baden-Württemberg, with searches conducted in:

• Cities: Baden-Baden, Böblingen, and Lörrach
• Districts: Ortenaukreis, Zollernalbkreis, and Enzkreis
• Additional searches were simultaneously carried out in Berlin.

Nature of the Investigation

The Baden-Baden public prosecutor’s office authorized the operation based on allegations that the suspects were involved in:

• Human smuggling of individuals from third countries
• Gang-related tax evasion
• Wage-related fraud

Next Steps

Authorities have indicated that additional information will be released on Friday. The investigation ties into broader concerns about organized crime in Germany, as highlighted in recent reports including the BKA situation report on organized crime’s economic impact and investigations into smuggling operations along the Balkan route.

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Overall, the results of the action include:

• 22 296 officers from law enforcement and labour and tax authorities participating in the action;
• 194 995 entities checked (including 73 218 persons, 11 815 locations, 26 412 vehicles and 83 958 documents)
• 93 persons suspected of trafficking human beings identified (of which 92 for labour exploitation)
• 54 persons arrested for various crimes (of which 44 for labour exploitation)
• 404 potential victims of human trafficking identified (of which 393 potential victims of labour exploitation)
• 341 new investigations in various crimes launched (of which 43 in labour exploitation)

The objective of this recurrent action is for authorities to focus on the forms of labour exploitation most pertinent or widespread in their respective countries. Inspections were conducted across a wide array of sectors, including catering, gastronomy, food delivery, food and meat processing, beauty services, domestic healthcare, logistics and distribution, agriculture, construction, and mining.

Several countries have confirmed various modus operandi in trafficking in human beings for agricultural and labour exploitation. These include discrepancies between payments and employees’ working hours, violations of minimum wage laws, undeclared work, illegal schemes operated by temporary work agencies, breaches of maximum working hours, poor housing conditions provided by employers, the employment of minors, debt bondage, working without permits, and the retention of ID and travel documents. Additionally, non-EU nationals may use look-alike documents, falsified passports, and forged residence permits. In general, cases of labour exploitation and forced labour are significantly underreported and do not reflect the true extent of the issue.

Standout cases from across Europe

Spain

During a joint action on an agricultural property in Seville, a Nepalese victim of trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation was identified following an inspection at a kebab restaurant. The victim was found living in inhumane, unsanitary, and overcrowded conditions. An investigation has been launched, and the victim has been transferred to a police station for assistance and placed in a shelter. Additionally, labour authorities initiated three investigations involving five workers found working without labour contracts, two of whom were illegal immigrants in Spain.

Hungary

Following a notification from the victim assistance network, an investigation into suspected forced labour led to the discovery of seven Hungarian citizens, including a 15-year-old, working in inhumane conditions on local pig farms. The victims were forced to perform physically demanding tasks without contracts, pay, or proper accommodation. The farm owner was arrested and detained, and the victims were rescued. The investigation was conducted jointly by law enforcement and labour authorities.

In another ongoing investigation into a human trafficking ring recruiting vulnerable individuals from Romania to work in a paper/waste selection factory in Hungary, two additional suspects were arrested in Budapest. They are accused of accommodating victims and forcing them to work in poor conditions. A victim was found and interviewed during a search of the suspects’ residences, which revealed isolated sheds with poor living conditions. This case involves a joint investigation team between Hungary and Romania, with a total of 13 suspects arrested to date. Victims were promised better working conditions but were instead subjected to poor conditions, document confiscation, constant surveillance, and withheld salaries.

Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities have halted the illegal labour exploitation of 13 Uzbek citizens at an agricultural enterprise in the Kyiv Oblast. Four members of a criminal group (two Chinese citizens, one Ukrainian, and one Uzbek citizen) have been arrested and charged with trafficking in human beings.

Multidisciplinary approach and Europol’s support

In line with previous editions, the operation emphasised a multidisciplinary approach. The efforts of national and regional police forces, border guards, tax authorities, labour authorities, and labour inspectorates were coordinated and supported by Europol and the European Labour Authority. Several joint inspections involving enforcement authorities from different countries were facilitated. Consequently, the operation benefited from improved information flow and enhanced awareness of human trafficking indicators. This close collaboration among various authorities and law enforcement agencies significantly contributed to the success of the action week in combating labour exploitation.

Trafficking in human beings (THB) involves forcing or duping vulnerable individuals into another country, for the sole purpose of criminal profit. It can happen anywhere, in many different forms, and affects people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders.

Participating countries:

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

On October 31, 2025, the European police agency Europol said that an unnamed number of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who allegedly fought with Russian ‘private military companies’ Wagner and Redut are among the alleged perpetrators of war crimes on Ukrainian soil.

Other suspects among the total of 654 suspects identified by Europol include citizens of Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“These individuals are believed to have committed war crimes such as acts of sexual violence, executions of prisoners of war and executions of civilians,” Europol said in a statement.

The European police agency said this was established by a joint operation it conducted with the Ukrainian and Moldovan police.

“Overall, the investigation led to the identification of a total of 654 members of the Russian private military companies Wagner and Redut, involved in combat operations against Ukraine,” the statement said.

During an operation with Moldova and Ukrainian police, 70 house searches were carried out in Moldova and Ukraine. Firearms and other weapons, ammunition, uniforms, insignia with symbols of paramilitary organisations and electronic equipment were seized.

Some time ago, the government commissioned the National Prison and Probation Service to create sections in prisons for 15- to 17-year-olds who have committed serious crimes. This task is now being expanded to include 13- and 14-year-olds, according to the Swedish Ministry of Justice.

Sweden has been struggling for years with criminal gangs that repeatedly recruit minors to commit serious crimes on their behalf – including murder. Under current law, 13- and 14-year-olds are not yet criminally responsible. A bill proposed by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s liberal-conservative government aims to change this in future for particularly serious crimes.

Lowering the age of criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes is important, among other things, to protect society, but also to help children leave the criminal path, said Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer. He spoke of initially 100 to 150 places for offenders aged 13 to 17.

According to government information, the separate youth departments are to be operational from 1 July 2026. Departments for boys are to be set up in six prisons and for girls in two. The younger and older adolescents are to be separated from each other – and the plans are not expected to violate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ministry said.

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Items worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken from the world’s most-visited museum last Sunday, when four thieves wielding power tools broke into the building in broad daylight.

France’s justice minister has conceded security protocols “failed”, leaving the country with a “terrible image”.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the arrests had been made on Saturday evening, without specifying how many people had been taken into custody.

One of the suspects was preparing to travel to Algeria, while it is understood the other was going to Mali.
Specialist police can detain and question them for up to 96 hours.

According to reports in French media on Sunday, DNA found at the scene of the robbery lead to the identification of one of the suspects.

The gang left behind a number of items, including gloves and a high-vis jacket.

It has previously been reported that they dropped a crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.

The Paris prosecutor criticised the “premature disclosure” of information related to the case, adding that it hindered efforts to recover the jewels and find the thieves.

The thieves reportedly arrived at 09:30 (08:30 GMT), shortly after the museum opened to visitors.

The suspects arrived with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine.

Pictures from the scene showed the ladder leading up to a first-floor window.

Two of the thieves entered by cutting through the window with power tools.

They then threatened the guards, who evacuated the premises, and cut through the glass of two display cases containing jewels.

A preliminary report has revealed that one in three rooms in the area of the museum raided had no CCTV cameras, according to French media.

French police say the thieves were inside for four minutes and made their escape on two scooters waiting outside at 09:38.

The museum’s director told French senators this week that the only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo.

CCTV around the perimeter was also weak and “ageing”, Laurence des Cars said, meaning that staff failed to spot the gang early enough to stop the theft.

Experts have also expressed concern that the jewels may have already been broken up into hundreds of pieces.

Security measures have since been tightened around France’s cultural institutions.

The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France following the heist. They will now be stored in the Bank’s most secure vault, 26m (85ft) below the ground floor of its elegant headquarters in central Paris.

Police in Germany will soon be allowed to shoot down drones that are violating German airspace. The cabinet agreed the law after disruptions to airports across Europe — including Germany — by rogue drones. The legislation still requires parliamentary approval.

Germany is facing a growing threat from unauthorized drones, after sightings near Munich Airport stranded thousands of passengers.

Officials suspect foreign interference, possibly from Russia.

The government is expanding federal police powers to intercept drones using jamming, GPS disruption, and even shootdowns.

But experts warn that defending thousands of critical sites 24/7 is unrealistic, highlighting gaps in Germany’s drone defense strategy.

© 2025 Deutsche Welle

This raises the question of who accepts and complies with such emergency rules and under what conditions.

The article addresses the question of norm acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic based on empirical findings from an online vignette survey of 6,000 respondents in Germany.

The focus is on how security actors can promote norm acceptance among the population when enforcing emergency measures.

In presenting the results of the online vignette survey, the focus is on the influence of various factors, such as fairness, on the creation of norm acceptance among the population.

The new Network, which is co-convened by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, fielded a team of seven legal observers to observe the policing of a pro-Palestine demonstration. 

The observers monitored gardaí as they, without justification, restrained and dispersed protesters using force and incapacitant (pepper spray). The report finds that actions of members of An Garda Síochána were in violation of garda policies and also Ireland’s international human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. 

This is the first report produced by the Network, established this year to monitor the policing of protests around Ireland. The report is published on the ICCL website and can be found here.

Social media and online environments have changed how information is communicated and enabled the rapid spread of fake news and disinformation. Misinformation spread online can, for example, stir up social unrest or incite crime.

The Police University College was involved in the international FERMI (Fake nEws Risk MItigator) project, in which disinformation served as a testbed for developing AI tools for the authorities. AI was used to analyze how false information spreads online and the kinds of risks this may cause. These experiments have made it possible to test how AI can, for example, help the police to identify various threats in time and plan preventive actions.

The tool is able to identify the topic and likely origin of fake news, as well as how quickly disinformation is spreading. The tool can help the police to assess disinformation and analyze potential real-world impacts. It also provides authorities with proposals for countermeasures.

“Going forward, the police could use the tool to analyze, for example, whether more police officers need to be allocated to an area, but the tool still requires further development in this respect,” says Project Manager Jenita Rauta at the Police University College.

Education is key to the responsible use of AI

The Police University College produced educational material on the use of AI-based tools for the project. Planning the educational content was based on anticipation and proactive policing. The aim is to enable as many authorities in Europe as possible to benefit from the education.

“We aimed to use educational material to highlight how technology has been used and can be used in the future to assess risks and support police decision-making. New AI-based tools can offer opportunities for proactive policing across Europe,” explains Coordinator Miia Sainio.

However, AI is not just a technical tool, and its use in the work of the authorities raises many ethical questions.

“A key aspect of the educational content is the ethical use of AI. The police need to understand how AI works and how it can be used securely and responsibly. Even where AI is used, it is humans who make the decisions.”

A total of 17 organizations in Europe were involved in the three-year FERMI project. The Ministry of the Interior also participated in the project from Finland. The project was funded by the EU Horizon 2021 initiative.