Croatia on the Smugglers' Route: Europol Busts Network
International operation leads to arrests in Belgrade and Germany, with the network moving migrants through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to Western Europe.
International operation leads to arrests in Belgrade and Germany, with the network moving migrants through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to Western Europe.
In a coordinated action by German and Serbian authorities, supported by Eurojust and Europol, key members of a criminal network smuggling Syrian migrants into the European Union have been arrested. Croatia was on one of the main routes they used, transporting people from Bosnia and Herzegovina towards Western countries.
Europol confirmed on Thursday, August 6, 2026, that three individuals were arrested. According to Singapore's Straits Times, among those arrested were a 26-year-old Syrian in Germany and a 31-year-old Syrian and another suspect in Belgrade. ABC Portal, meanwhile, reports the arrest of one suspect in the Serbian capital, describing him as a "high-value target" with a key role in the logistics chain.
According to the investigation's findings, the suspects organized the transport of Syrian nationals from Serbia along two main routes. The first went through Hungary, while the second, which included Croatia, led from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Migrants were then transported by cars, vans, and trucks through Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria, all the way to their final destinations in Germany and other Western European countries.
For these illegal services, the network charged between 2,000 and 10,000 euros per person. The key suspect, believed to have managed the entire logistics from his residence in Serbia, personally transported migrants to Sombor, where he handed them over to other group members for the onward journey. The investigation established that between June 2023 and June 2024, he participated in at least 37 migrant smuggling operations.
Sources disagree on the total number of migrants the network smuggled. ABC Portal states that the arrested suspect is charged with smuggling at least 625 migrants. On the other hand, the Straits Times quotes a Europol statement specifying that two interconnected Syrian criminal networks organized the smuggling of more than 900 migrants into the European Union.
"Investigators targeted high-ranking members of two interconnected Syrian criminal networks believed to have organized the smuggling of more than 900 migrants into the European Union," Europol said, as reported by the Straits Times.
These arrests are part of a broader international investigation that has been ongoing since 2022, when the networks began their activities. In earlier operations conducted in Germany, the Netherlands, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, five members of the same organized group had already been arrested. In addition to the Balkan route, the networks also used Mediterranean crossings from Libya.
Key roles in the operation were played by the Weiden Prosecutor's Office, the Waidhaus Federal Police Station, and the Munich Federal Police Criminal Investigation Unit on the German side, as well as the Serbian Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office and the Serbian Interior Ministry's Service for Combating Organized Crime. Eurojust supported cooperation through a joint investigation team, while Europol's European Migrant Smuggling Centre provided analytical and intelligence support on the day of the action.
