German police on Wednesday morning carried out a large-scale operation against suspected human traffickers in the capital Berlin and the eastern German city of Halle an der Saale.
According to the police, more than 20 flats and offices, mostly in Berlin, were searched.
Five men were detained, four in Berlin and one in the Saxony-Anhalt city of Halle.
A total of 18 suspects were under investigation.
The gang was alleged to have smuggled people from Turkey and Iraq into Germany. The illegal migrants were flown from Istanbul by plane to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the police said. From there, they were transported in cars to Germany via the so-called Balkan route.
According to the police, at least 90 people were smuggled in this way. The gang is said to have been well organised, with members being responsible for the organisation and others being just drivers.
A total of 400 police officers from the Federal Police and the Berlin police force were deployed for the operation.