SARAJEVO: Bosnian prosecutors on Thursday charged seven people, includingone Iraqi and two Pakistani men, with people smuggling.
The group is suspected of ferrying at least 46 people through Bosnia intoEU member state Croatia, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
They made at least $40,800 (35,800 euros) from the trade, it added.
The Iraqi and two Pakistanis, who allegedly ran the criminal group, falselypresented themselves as migrants “in order to make contacts with personsready to pay large amounts for illegal smuggling towards EU countries”,prosecutors said.
Bosnia has become a key transit country carrying migrants from Asia, theMiddle East and North Africa towards the European Union.
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More than 23,000 people have trudged through the mountainous Balkan statesince the start of January 2018 in a bid to slip across the border toCroatia and move on into other EU countries.
While most manage to continue north, many have been thwarted by borderpolice.
An estimated 4,500 and 6,000 migrants are currently in Bosnia. – APP / AFP
