TWO PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY AND SMUGGLING OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS PREVENTED IN OPERATIONAL ACTION CODENAMED “EAST"

The activities were carried out by SIPA police officers, as instructed by the Duty Prosecutor and as ordered by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Acting upon an instruction of the Duty Prosecutor from the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption, police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency – SIPA carried out activities in the Zenica-Doboj Canton and in the Sarajevo Canton and deprived two persons of liberty under suspicion of the commission of the criminal offence of Smuggling of Persons, referred to in Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These activities prevented the smuggling of thirteen (13) illegal migrants, including minors and persons without documents, whom the suspects intended to transport to the area of ​​Banja Luka, all for the purpose of acquiring unlawful material gain, and so that these migrants could further be illegally transported to the EU countries.

Investigative activities have established that the aforementioned illegal migrants are of Kurdish ethnicity.

The Prosecutor in charge of this case has instructed police officers to conduct further investigative activities.

The aforementioned activities were implemented with the participation of police officers from the Ministry of the Interior of the Zenica-Doboj Canton and employees of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.