ZAGREB, August 18, 2018 – Two Spanish nationals were taken into police custody in Istria after they were intercepted by the local police while trying to transport 13 migrants through Croatia to Slovenia in the night between Thursday and Friday.
One of the suspects, a 39-year-old Spaniard, was driving a car with a trailer in which the 13 migrants were found. The car had German licence plates and in the trailer there were ten Pakistanis and three Nepalis, according to a police report released on Friday.
The other suspect, a 30-year-old Spanish national, was driving a Skoda Fabia car, having a role of an advance guard to check the roads. This suspect was arrested at the Požane border crossing ten minutes after the police intercepted the car and the trailer in the Rocko Polje suburb in the area of Buzet.
In other migrant related news, Bosnian Security Minister Dragan Mektić said on Friday that there are between 2,000 and 2,300 illegal migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a marked decrease from July,
According to Bosnian police agencies, about 10,800 illegal migrants entered the country this year through August 15.
Illegal migration is under full control and the decrease in the flow is a result of tighter border control, as thousands whose aim is to go west across Bosnia and Herzegovina are concentrated in Serbia, Mektić told reporters. “We are putting these migrations under control and are safely managing them.” He said that in future migrants would be accommodated in centres to be set up in Bihać, Velika Kladuša and Cazin.
Mektic went on to say that Croatian police did not provide full data when they said that 2,500 migrants had been caught this year in attempts to illegally enter the country from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He indirectly claimed the figure was up to 8,000. “Either Croatian police haven’t discovered them or they haven’t provided the exact data.”
He said Bosnian police were conducting intensive checks to find illegal migrants involved in crime and that two persons involved in muggings and drug trafficking were arrested in a raid in the Bihać area on Thursday. He added that over 30 persons had been arrested for trafficking in migrants across Bosnia and Herzegovina.
