SARAJEVO (Reuters) – Police from Bosnia, Croatia and regional agency Europol caught eight suspected traffickers on Wednesday and blocked the smuggling of 45 migrants into the European Union (EU), Bosnian authorities said.
During a search of several locations in northwestern Bosnia, police seized mobile phones, laptops and other items that could serve as evidence in criminal proceedings, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said.
It gave no further details on the fate of the 45 migrants.
The detainees are suspected of transporting, hiding and smuggling migrants mostly from Turkey via Bosnia into EU member Croatia and onwards to Italy, Bosnia’s state prosecutor’s office said, calling the arrests the region’s most comprehensive operation this year.
The so-called Balkan route for migrants trying to reach the EU via Turkey, Greece and former Yugoslav countries was shut down in 2016 when Turkey agreed to stop the flow in return for European aid and a promise of visa-free travel for its citizens.
But Bosnia, which has a 1,000 km (620 miles) border with Croatia, has become an alternative migrant route starting from Turkey via Greece and Albania through Montenegro, as well as for those stuck in Serbia.
(Reporting by Maja Zuvela; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
