Europol and Italian Government Raid Human Smuggling Network

On October 2, 2002, Europol and the Italian R.O.S. Carabinieri coordinated a crack down against an international organized criminal organization involved in trafficking women for sexual exploitation, arresting approximately 80 persons simultaneously in several European countries. Using the code name ?Girasole? or ?Sunflower,? Italian authorities and law enforcement authorities from other countries coordinated the operation that targeted dismantling an organized criminal network engaged in smuggling young women primarily from Eastern European countries. Investigations indicated that individuals and travel companies in the Ukraine had promoted and facilitated the smuggling of women through the fraudulent obtaining of Schengen visas.