A 38-year-old man with dual Egyptian–Hungarian citizenship has been charged with operating a human smuggling ring out of a barber shop in Budapest, Hungary. Prosecutors say he transported illegal migrants from Hungary’s southern border with Serbia to its northern border with Slovakia for profit during the summer and fall of 2023.
Five alleged accomplices are also facing charges in connection with the scheme.
The man reportedly ran a hair salon near Budapest’s Keleti Railway Station. After befriending two customers, prosecutors say he recruited them to help find drivers willing to participate in the smuggling operation.
According to the Nógrád County Prosecutor’s Office, the two men primarily targeted acquaintances facing financial hardship, offering them paid work as drivers. The prosecution claims that the organizer supplied the vehicles, cash, and logistical support needed to carry out the operation.
Between July and October 2023, the criminal network is accused of conducting multiple smuggling runs using five drivers. Prosecutors say the drivers travelled to the Szeged–Röszke region near the Hungarian–Serbian border, where they picked up groups of 20 to 30 third-country nationals who had entered Hungary illegally, then transported them in enclosed, windowless vehicles to the Hungarian–Slovakian border to facilitate their unlawful crossing.
The operation was allegedly coordinated by three organizers who used pseudonyms and mobile phone apps to communicate and directly manage the drivers under the leadership of the Egyptian Hungarian suspect.
Authorities eventually apprehended all of the drivers during the smuggling operations and placed them in custody.
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