SARAJEVO Bosnian and Croatian police said on Thursday they had arrested 13 people suspected of smuggling at least 100 migrants from Turkey into the European Union.
Police said the 13 arrests were made under an operation codenamed Bosphorus, launched eight months ago and coordinated with law enforcement in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro.
Four Bosnians, two Turkish citizens with Bosnian residence and seven Croatians are thought to have been part of an international criminal ring which charged migrants 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($3,235 to $5,395) to get them from Turkey to the European Union.
But Adnan Kosovac, a Bosnian border police official, said the suspects had been taking advantage of visa-free travel between Turkey and Bosnia to legally transfer migrants by land or plane to Bosnia and then smuggle them to EU member Croatia.
They said a further 60 arrests had been made over that period.
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