SARAJEVO, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A joint patrol by border police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Croatia has prevented an attempt to smuggle 12 migrants across the border, authorities said on Tuesday.
Authorities said the incident occurred on Monday in BiH's southwestern area of Grude, and the migrants were of Afro-Asian origin, including nine citizens of Türkiye, and three people who had no identification documents and said they were from Pakistan and Syria.
The migrants were found during a patrol when officers stopped and inspected a passenger vehicle with Albanian license plates, driven by an Albanian citizen.
The driver was suspected of human smuggling and detained, while the vehicle and other evidence were seized under the prosecutor's order. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.
According to data released by the BiH Ministry of Security, 3,473 arrivals of irregular migrants were recorded in the first quarter of this year, up 59 percent year-on-year.
