Criminal group in Serbia arrested for smuggling migrants

By order of the Public Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, in cooperation with the Directorate of Criminal Police, the Service for Combating Organized Crime, the Department for the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Human Smuggling, today in the territory of Serbia, Bujanovac and Preševo, four persons were deprived of their liberty, namely: Ć. A., A.L., I.F. and L.J., due to the existence of a well-founded suspicion that they committed the criminal offense of illegal crossing of the state border and human smuggling.

In the period from October 13, 2023 to July 24 this year, this organized criminal group facilitated the illegal passage through the Republic of Serbia for over 50 illegal migrants.

This organized criminal group transported illegal migrants who illegally crossed the state border from the Republic of Bulgaria to the territory of the municipality of Dimitrovgrad, as well as those who crossed from the territory of North Macedonia to the territory of the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, to Niš or Belgrade in passenger motor vehicles, where they left them in the agreed places, and with the aim of their further illegal transfer to the countries of Western Europe.

The organizer and members collected the fee for the crossing of illegal migrants by finding various persons in the Republic of Serbia to whom they sent payments in the amount of about 150 euros per illegal migrant from abroad via Western Union, and then they collected the money sent from these persons in cash.

All persons will be brought to the Public Prosecutor's Office for organized crime with a criminal report, after which they will be questioned.