Germany arrests four members of suspected migrant smuggling ring

German police have arrested four suspected members of a migrant smuggling ring from Syria and Iraq.

The group is accused of trafficking at least 300 people from the Middle East by car or van, via Poland and Belarus.

Police say the migrants paid between €3,500 and €10,000 to be smuggled to Germany in life-threatening conditions.

Two suspects were arrested in Forst, near Berlin, and two others in the capital itself, Potsdam police said on Wednesday.

The four suspects are from Syria or Iraq, while at least two other people are still wanted.

Authorities also carried out 14 searches in several German regions, according to a statement.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of facilitating illegal immigration into the European Union since 2021 in a "hybrid war".