Three people were detained in Germany on Wednesday in police raids targeting a suspected people-smuggling network believed to have facilitated the illegal entry of Chinese nationals into the country.

Officers were searching 40 properties in nine of Germany’s 16 federal states, including Berlin, prosecutors and police said.

The three suspects were detained in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the group is said to be based, according to police.

The network is believed to have helped a large number of Chinese nationals to enter and stay in Germany in return for payments.

Authorities said they would provide further information on the operation once the raids have been concluded.

Prosecutors in Flensburg first launched investigations in October 2023 on suspicion of commercial and organized people’s smuggling.

According to security sources, the suspects are accused of procuring visa intended for skilled workers for wealthy Chinese nationals by pretending they have some kind of employment in Germany. Some 100 people – including family members – are said to have entered Germany under the scheme.

Investigators in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been looking into a similar group for some time, suspected of providing wealthy Chinese and Omani nationals with residence permits, possibly by bribing public officials with six-figure sums.

In July, investigators revealed that 16 suspects working for local authorities were under investigation.

As part of the investigation, which involves 187 suspects in total, the public prosecutor’s office confiscated the well-known Pascha brothel in the western city of Cologne, which is believed to have been bought by a Chinese investor in 2021.