Current:Home > MySerbian police arrest 7 people smugglers and find over 700 migrants in raids after a deadly shooting -Quantum Capital Pro
Serbian police arrest 7 people smugglers and find over 700 migrants in raids after a deadly shooting
View
Date:2025-04-14 00:18:41
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police said Friday they made seven arrests on suspicion of smuggling people into Hungary as part of a days-long crackdown on irregular migration in the wake of a shooting last week in the border area that killed three migrants and wounded one.
Reports of violence and gun battles have become common near the border between Serbia and Hungary, a European Union member state. Thousands of people have been camping in the area, looking for ways to cross with the help of people smugglers.
Police said Friday they made arrests both in the capital Belgrade and in Subotica, a city near the border with Hungary. Migrants pay 2,350 euros ($2,500) each to cross, said the statement.
Since the shooting last Saturday near the border town of Horgos, police have launched daily raids in the forested area. Late on Thursday, police reported finding a total of 738 migrants, some near the border with Hungary, but others in a town near the border with Bulgaria, in the east. When found, migrants are usually transferred to reception centers throughout the country.
Serbia lies at the heart of the so-called Balkan land route of migration toward Western Europe, which leads from Turkey to Greece and Bulgaria, and then on to North Macedonia, Serbia or Bosnia. Crossings along the Balkan land route usually intensify in the fall as bad weather prevents migrants from taking the perilous journey over the Mediterranean Sea.
Hungary’s staunchly anti-immigrant government has put up razor-wire fence on the borders with Serbia to stop the influx, and has pushed back into Serbia migrants who enter Hungary. People smuggling gangs, however, have multiplied in the border area, often clashing for control.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
veryGood! (145)
Related
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- 4 swimmers bitten by shark off Texas' South Padre Island, officials say
- LaVar Arrington II, son of Penn State football legend, commits to Nittany Lions
- Shark attack on South Padre Island, Texas leaves 2 injured, 2 others report encounters
- How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
- Critically endangered gorilla with beautiful big brown eyes born at Ohio zoo
- Critically endangered gorilla with beautiful big brown eyes born at Ohio zoo
- New Dutch leader pledges to cut immigration as the opposition vows to root out racists in cabinet
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- I watch TV for a living. Why can’t I stop stressing about my kid’s screen time?
Ranking
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Poisons in paradise: How Mexican cartels target Hawaii with meth, fentanyl
- Man charged with stealing and selling car of elderly couple who were fatally shot in South Florida
- Transgender, nonbinary 1,500 runner Nikki Hiltz shines on and off track, earns spot at Paris Games
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Disappointed Vanessa Hudgens Slams Paparazzi Over Photos of Her With Newborn Baby
- New Dutch leader pledges to cut immigration as the opposition vows to root out racists in cabinet
- YouTuber Pretty Pastel Please Dead at 30
Recommendation
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
Citing Supreme Court immunity ruling, Trump’s lawyers seek to freeze the classified documents case
Def Leppard pumped for summer tour with Journey: 'Why would you want to retire?'
President Biden scrambles to save his reelection with a trip to Wisconsin and a network TV interview
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
Sierra Leone outlaws child marriage. Even witnesses to such weddings can face jail time.
Summer House's Lindsay Hubbard Pregnant, Expecting First Baby
Stock market today: With US markets closed, Asian shares slip and European shares gain