Eight Croatian citizens and one Afghan national have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling at least 60 migrants via Croatia to the rest of Europe over the past three months. making at least 150,000 kuna (€19,800) in the process, the Krapina-Zagorje County police said on Monday.

The arrests were made on Monday morning in Osijek-Baranja, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Zagreb, and Krapina-Zagorje counties.

The suspects are male and aged 19-22. The Afghan national, 19, had applied for international protection in Croatia.

The migrants had illegally entered Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Afghan youth would find them in the Banovina and eastern Slavonia regions in Croatia and the Croatian citizens organised their transfer to Slovenia and other EU member states.