A Slovak police unit combating illegal immigration on Tuesday, January 29, apprehended members of an alleged international criminal group accused of being involved in people smuggling, unit vice-director Kamil Pinček said at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The police detained five Slovaks aged 19 to 73. Police said the organised group has been active since at least May 2012, said Pinček, adding that the smugglers could receive sentences of up to ten years imprisonment if convicted. The police operation was carried out simultaneously in 14 countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and Turkey. A key role in communication between individual countries was played by the European Police Office EUROPOL, Pinček added.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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