In the central Croatian towns of Vojnic and Ozalj, the Karlovac County police arrested four Croatian nationals who tried smuggle 35 foreign nationals through Croatia into other EU countries, the Karlovac County police reported on Friday.

Croatian nationals aged 24, 29, 34, and 36 were arrested for two separate cases of people smuggling.

In the central town of Ozalj a 29-year-old was arrested for smuggling nine foreign nationals, when a vehicle with Zagreb licence plates was stopped on Monday, May 28. An investigation showed the driver was assisted by two Croatian nationals, aged 24 and 36.

The suspect arrested in the town of Vojnic was transporting foreign nationals in inhumane conditions. For a previously agreed sum, he would enable them to illegally leave Croatia and enter other European Union member states, the press release said. 

Vojnic Municipality is located on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ozalj is located on Croatia’s border with Slovenia, which is part of the Schengen Area.

Under suspicions of committing the crime of illegal entry into Croatia, another member state of the European Union or a member of the Schengen Area, all the suspects were remanded in custody in Karlovac, and the police have pressed charges against them.

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