Bosnian Police Bust Another Migrant Smuggling Ring

In an operation codenamed "Lipa", executed on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Border Police, together with partner police and security agencies,  on Wednesday arrested members of an organised crime group suspected of smuggling hundreds of illegal migrants from Bosnia to EU member Croatia.

In a press release, the prosecution stated that "the investigation established that more than 20 Bosnian citizens, mostly from the northwestern city of Bihac and its surroundings, in the second half of 2020, committed continuous illegal activities in finding, recruiting, smuggling, transporting a large number of illegal migrants, mostly citizens of the Middle East and other Afro-Asian countries."

The prosecution documented about 30 organised smuggling transports, in which different numbers of illegal migrants were smuggled, most often in groups of dozens or even hundreds.

"The suspects mostly transported migrants near the land or river border with Croatia, most often on the stretch between cities Bihac and Gradiška, and organised further transport for them, or directed them to cross the border illegally," the state prosecution said in a statement.

It is added that evidence had been gathered that the suspects earned a large amount of money, which they tried to put into legal financial flows, with money laundering.

The prosecution said the suspects were also charged with unauthorised trafficking in weapons and military equipment.

"The amounts of money the smugglers charge for their services are different, so, for example, the price from Bosnia to Slovenia is around 1,000 euros," Franka Vican, a spokeswoman for the Bosnian Border Police, told BIRN. She adds that the cost of a transfer across the...

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