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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Police cut route for smuggling Turkish, Albanian citizens

Belgrade, 16 July 2009

The Ministry of the Interior stated last night that in a joint operation the Serbian and Bosnia-Herzegovina police forces arrested 24 persons implicated in human smuggling.

The statement adds that from January to July this year the Serbian police took part in an international operation that, with the support of the SEKI Centre in Bucharest, aimed at uncovering the smuggling of Turkish and Albanian citizens from Turkey via Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and then on to the EU.

On Serbian territory 12 persons were arrested. The international criminal group was identified after an intensive police investigation and data exchange among international police forces, the SEKI Centre and Interpol and in cooperation with the Special Prosecution in Belgrade and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This is one of the most organised criminal groups in the Balkans and is headed by Dzelal Suleimani, from Presevo.

According to the data which the police gathered, illegal immigrants from Albania were sent to Serbia by several persons who organised the smuggling ring, together with Suleimani. Albanian citizens were transported in groups of 4–8, consisting mostly of underage persons.

Upon arriving on Serbian territory they were met by Fatmir Arifi, who is still on the run, and led across the administrative border line to Bujanovac municipality and hence to Belgrade, where immigrants would wait up to 24 hours for further transport.

Having made an agreement with a criminal group from Bosnia-Herzegovina, led by Miralem Mustafagic, Suleimani would then organise the immigrants’ transport by boat across the Drina, whence they were sent to Slovenia and Trieste in Italy.

According to police data, the international criminal group smuggled over 60 Albanian citizens, thus making a profit of between €200,000 and €300,000, the statement adds.