Arrested persons smuggled over 100 migrants

NOVI SAD - Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that the police arrested on Wednesday morning 10 persons suspected of smuggling over 100 illegal migrants from January by mid-May.

The operation was planned for a long time, and it was carried out in cooperation with the National Bureau of Investigation in Hungary and the Serbian Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office, Stefanovic said at a press conference in Novi Sad.

He explained that members of this structured group made contacts with illegal migrants in certain camps in Greece, and they were later transferred to Serbia and then Hungary, from where they were transported to the EU member states.

The illegal migrants came from Palestine, Syria and Afghanistan, and they were most often transported to the territories of Austria and Italy, Stefanovic said.

The minister said that the structured group was headed by V.T., 27, from Subotica, and the majority of members were also from Subotica and Novi Sad.

The criminal group charged EUR 1,000 and more per migrant, while others in this chain got from EUR 50 to EUR 100 per person, he said.

Stefanovic said that this operation has showed that the Serbian police have good cooperation with other police headquarters in the region, and it has contributed to combating people smuggling, which defames the reputation of the Serbian police and Serbia in the EU.

The Interior Ministry's statement said that three people smuggling chains leading through Hungary have been broken so far in collaboration with Hungarian police officials.

This prevented 49 illegal migrants from being transferred to Western European countries, mostly Austria and Italy, the statement also said.

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