ZAGREB, Croatia, April 2 (UPI) -- Croatian police said Thursday they arrested 42 people on suspicion they had smuggled some 200 illegal migrants to Western European countries.
Croatian police, in cooperation with police from Bosnia, Slovenia and Austria after a five-month operation have stopped four international rings that were transporting illegal migrants from the Far East, the Middle East and Balkan countries, Tihomir Kralj, a Croatian police chief told a news conference in Zagreb.
The human trafficking leaders had made profits of at least $200,000 over the past 12 months, Kralj said.
The migrants, paying $700 to $2,000 per person, were smuggled across Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia into Austria and further to other EU countries, the Croatian Net.hr Web site reported.
The ring leaders used cars, vans and taxis to smuggle the migrants, Kralj said.
The Balkan countries are along a major route for human and drug trafficking to Western Europe.
