Overview
- More than 1,000 officers searched residential and business premises across five German states in a coordinated operation.
- A 56-year-old man from Düsseldorf is under investigation on allegations of organized human smuggling, withholding wages and tax evasion.
- Three arrest warrants were executed with two arrests in Düsseldorf and one in Dortmund, and a court ordered pretrial detention.
- Authorities allege the main suspect ran up to ten nail studios over many years and used them to employ undocumented Vietnamese workers.
- ZeOS NRW is leading the probe with federal police, customs and state tax investigators, who are securing evidence and assets as further suspects remain under investigation.