The Council of Europe’s 3rd International Conference on Migrant Smuggling concluded its second day on 22 October in Strasbourg, bringing together prosecutors—including representatives from France’s JIRS (specialised organised-crime unit)—to share best practices on dismantling cross-border trafficking rings operating along the Central and Western Mediterranean routes.
French delegates highlighted recent joint operations with Spain and Italy that used financial-crime statutes to freeze €12 million in assets linked to smuggling profits. Eurojust and Europol officials demonstrated new data-fusion tools that can correlate maritime AIS signals with encrypted-messaging intercepts, offering actionable intelligence for French coastal authorities.
The conference matters for mobility-risk planners because smuggling routes often overlap with legitimate transport corridors used by freight and corporate travel. Enhanced coordination could translate into more at-sea inspections and ad-hoc document checks at French ports such as Marseille and Sète—potentially delaying shipments and staff transfers.
Policy outcomes feed into the forthcoming Council of Europe Recommendation on combatting smuggling, expected in early 2026. If adopted, France would need to adjust its Code de l’Entrée et du Séjour des Étrangers to strengthen penalties for facilitators, affecting logistics firms that unknowingly transport irregular migrants in trucks or containers.
French delegates highlighted recent joint operations with Spain and Italy that used financial-crime statutes to freeze €12 million in assets linked to smuggling profits. Eurojust and Europol officials demonstrated new data-fusion tools that can correlate maritime AIS signals with encrypted-messaging intercepts, offering actionable intelligence for French coastal authorities.
The conference matters for mobility-risk planners because smuggling routes often overlap with legitimate transport corridors used by freight and corporate travel. Enhanced coordination could translate into more at-sea inspections and ad-hoc document checks at French ports such as Marseille and Sète—potentially delaying shipments and staff transfers.
Policy outcomes feed into the forthcoming Council of Europe Recommendation on combatting smuggling, expected in early 2026. If adopted, France would need to adjust its Code de l’Entrée et du Séjour des Étrangers to strengthen penalties for facilitators, affecting logistics firms that unknowingly transport irregular migrants in trucks or containers.
