Operation "Renta": Two individuals arrested for smuggling migrants

(Patria) - Police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) today carried out an operation codenamed "Renta", during which two individuals of Turkish nationality were arrested on suspicion of committing the criminal offenses of "Organizing a group or association for the commission of the criminal offense of migrant smuggling" and "Human trafficking" as prescribed by the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After criminal processing and questioning as suspects, the arrested individuals will be handed over to the further jurisdiction of the competent prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the implementation of this operation, one residential building was searched, during which items that could serve as evidence in criminal proceedings were found and temporarily confiscated: mobile phones, certain documentation, and 85 passports of Turkish citizens who were smuggled in the previous period.

The operation "Renta" is the result of the work of police officers within the Operational Group Zebra, which operates under the auspices of Europol, as well as cooperation with police authorities of the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, the Republic of France, and Great Britain.

The arrested individuals have been operating on the Western Balkan route for a longer period and are suspected of having smuggled over 100 illegal migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina to European Union countries.

The activities were carried out by order of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, under the supervision of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, the Ministries of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska and the Central Bosnia Canton.