The discovery of at least 46 dead migrants inside an abandoned trailer truck near San Antonio in the US on Monday is a tragic reminder of the dangers migrants face around the world while trying to reach wealthier countries. They often use the help of ruthless smugglers and traffickers who are frequently arrested for cramming people in trucks. Here's a list of some of the most deadly incidents in the last 20 years.
A man who drove a van in which two Syrians suffocated last fall has been sentenced to seven years in prison. The 19-year-old was allegedly part of a network that smuggled refugees and migrants, mostly Syrians, from Hungary to Austria.
A 35-year-old Egyptian migrant died on Wednesday evening after being struck by a bullet fired by French police. The van he was traveling in rammed through immigration controls at the border, said French prosecutors.
Two British men have been handed sentences adding up to 14 years in prison for smuggling 31 migrants into the UK, including seven children and a pregnant woman.
Europol says eight human smuggling "kingpins" were arrested in a European police operation that also dismantled a large secret network accused of transporting some 10,000 migrants to the continent - mainly Afghans, Pakistanis and Syrians.
Authorities arrested 205 people allegedly tied to Central and Eastern European gangs smuggling tens of thousands of Syrians in the EU. The €150 million ring reportedly used Vienna as a hub to move migrants from Hungary to Germany and France.
The UK’s National Crime Agency has arrested a man in east London who they suspect was a "leading figure in an organized crime group supplying significant numbers of small boats to people smugglers."
Greek police on the island of Rhodes announced on Monday that they arrested four suspected migrant smugglers. Another three people allegedly connected to their smuggling network were arrested in Athens.
A gang of three men are on trial in Belfast, accused of trafficking more than 40 Syrians from Europe to Ireland and on to the UK.
Another person has been jailed in the UK for his part in a people smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants inside a lorry in October 2019.
The UK Home Office has revealed that many of the boats being used by migrants to cross the English Channel are now being purchased in China to then be imported to Eastern Europe and later be used by smugglers.
Some 26 migrants and the driver were injured when their van crashed into a house in southern Hungary, according to local media and police reports.