On 10-11 May 2022, the Council of Europe Network of Prosecutors on Migrant Smuggling (CDPC-NPMS) held its first meeting in Paris. Selected national prosecutors with first-hand experience on smuggling of migrants discussed relevant investigative approaches and exchanged information and best practices on investigative, prosecutorial and judicial challenges in migrant smuggling-related cases.

The Network is set up under the Council of Europe Action Plan on Fostering International Co-operation and Investigative Strategies, which aims at helping member states fostering and improving international co-operation and investigative strategies in fighting the criminal phenomena connected to the smuggling of migrants, notably:

• the identification of all the actors in the smuggling business, including, inter alia: network kingpins, especially if linked with traditional criminal groups, coordinators of the journey, migrant recruiters, false or forged documents providers, safe house keepers, patrolling squads, money guarantors, money collectors, parking lots supervisors, truck drivers, “hawaladars”;
• the sharing of information notably on modus operandi, migratory routes, smuggling networks’ economic models, links with human trafficking and other infractions, and financial transfers;
• the analysis of different and commonly adopted investigative tools;
• the identification of existing international judicial cooperation tools and practices;
• the analysis of relevant judicial decisions.