Smugglers sneaking human beings into Europe last year earned as much as 42 billion kroner, according to Europol head Rob Wainwright.
“Every migrant pays between 20,000 and 60,000 kroner for their travel,” Wainwright told the UK newspaper the Independent.
Big business
Europol asked 1,500 asylum-seekers about their trip, and it turned out that 90 percent of them paid a criminal gang to reach Europe.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimated that over 1 million people fled their home countries in 2015 to get away from war, persecution or poverty and set off for Europe.
READ MORE: Rise in human trafficking cases fuelled by refugee crisis
Wainright said that in 2015 alone, Europol identified nearly 11,000 suspected smugglers.
