ON ORDER OF PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH, INTERNATIONAL OPERATION CODENAMED “KAYAK” AIMED AT FIGHT AGAINST SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS IMPLEMENTED; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION WITH REPUBLIC OF SERBIA ACHIEVED AND SELEC PROVIDED SUPPORT

On an order of a Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency of BiH - (SIPA), in cooperation with the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime of the Republic of Serbia and police officers of the Department for Fight against Organised Crime within the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, carried out an operation codenamed “Kayak” in which two suspects were deprived of liberty in the area of Bratunac. In this operation, 9 suspects have been deprived of liberty so far in both countries.

During the work on the case, support was provided by the Southeast European Law Enforcement Centre - SELEC.

During the operation, SIPA police officers arrested two people in the Bratunac area because of a well-founded suspicion that they, as members of an organised criminal group organised to transfer illegal migrants from the Republic of Serbia to BiH and further to EU countries, committed the criminal offence of Organizing a Group or Association for the Purpose of Perpetrating the Criminal Offence of ‘Smuggling of Migrants’ under Article 189a of the Criminal Code of BiH.

During the search, seized were items that could serve as evidence of the commission of criminal offences in criminal proceedings.

This is an investigation conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH against persons suspected of organising the smuggling of a large number of illegal migrants from Serbia, across the water border on the Drina River into BiH, in cooperation with persons from Serbia, which significantly endangers security and complicates the situation with illegal migrants in BiH.

The work within the operation “Kayak” continues.