INTERNATIONAL OPERATION CODENAMED ‘FAST’ CARRIED OUT TO FIGHT SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, five (5) persons were deprived of liberty, and the operation was carried out with partner institutions of the Republic of Croatia, where two persons were deprived of liberty.

Acting on the order and under the supervision of a Prosecutor from the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, SIPA police officers carried out an operation codenamed ‘Fast’ and deprived five suspects of liberty and conducted searches of facilities at several locations, with the assistance of the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of the Interior, Republika Srpska Ministry of the Interior, Service for Foreigners’ Affairs and Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

These activities were carried out in cooperation with USKOK and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, and they are aimed at detecting and prosecuting the organizers of illegal smuggling of dozens of migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the Republic of Croatia and further to other EU countries.

The suspected organizers are citizens of Afghanistan, and the investigation has shown that, while acting as an organized group with other suspects, in order to acquire unlawful material gain, they organized, coordinated and carried out the smuggling of dozens of illegal migrants, mostly citizens of Afghanistan, who had come to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Republic of Serbia, and they were smuggled from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Republic of Croatia in an organized manner, both across the river border and the land border.

As part of this operation, a coordinated investigation of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia lasted for several months, so that the perpetrators of criminal offenses could be detected and documented.

The suspects thus deprived of their liberty are charged with the following criminal offenses: Organizing a Group or Association for the Purpose of Perpetrating the Criminal Offense of Smuggling of Migrants, referred to in Article 189a of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with the criminal offense of Smuggling of Persons, referred to in Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the course of the day, they will be handed over to the Prosecutor in charge of the case, who will make a decision on further activities.

Together with its partner institutions and agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the countries of the region and EU, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is conducting several complex operations, aimed at prosecuting criminal offenses related to illegal migrations and the complex migrant situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina would like to thank police officers of all agencies and institutions who participated in the international operation "Fast".