Brisk Business for Smugglers in Greece
Pitched and commissioned by Deutsche Welle during the height of the refugee crisis in Greece. Travelled to the north of Greece, visited known hangouts of smugglers and immigrants seeking passage north, and secured an interview with a high-ranking police official involved in combating people trafficking.
This was one of several articles pitched and commissioned by Deutsche Welle during the refugee crisis in Greece in the mid-2010s. The piece examined how people smuggling networks were operating along Greece’s northern border, exploiting the desperation of migrants and refugees seeking to continue their journeys northward through the Balkans.
The reporting required travelling to northern Greece and visiting known gathering points of smugglers and immigrants. A key element of the story was securing an on-the-record interview with a high-ranking police official directly involved in the effort to combat people trafficking networks in the region.
The article shed light on the scale and organization of smuggling operations in Greece at a time when hundreds of thousands of people were transiting through the country, and how law enforcement agencies were struggling to keep pace with the rapidly evolving networks.