The Antwerp Criminal Court has sentenced the members of an Afghan people trafficking gang to up to 18 years imprisonment and fines of up to 2,712,000 euro. The gang used violence against the at least 113 people that it trafficked from Afghanistan into Western Europe. The Afghan boys that were trafficked by the gang also suffered sexual abuse.
Antwerp Criminal Court sentences 22 Afghans to up to 18 years in prison for people trafficking
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An investigation that got under way in 2021 exposed an international criminal organisation that trafficked Afghans via Turkey and Serbia to France, Belgium and the UK. A total of 113 victims were identified during the investigation. However, it is likely that there are dozens more.
The victims paid between 5,000 and 11,000 euro to be smuggling into Western Europe by the traffickers. The young victims were subject to sexual abuse, video footage of which was used by the gang to blackmail the boys.
One part of the gang was based in Antwerp, while the rest of the gang was based in Turkey and France. It used the social media platform TikTok as its primary means of communication.
The gang was particularly violent. Victims speak of having been held hostage, extortion, stabbings, beatings and being held at gunpoint. The teenage boys were sexually abused both and en route to Western Europe and once they had arrived here. Footage of the abuse was used to blackmail the boys.