Two police among those arrested in bust of migrant smuggling across Bulgarian-Serbian border

Serbian authorities arrested several suspects, including two police officers in an investigation involving Bulgarian law enforcement, in a bust of a migrant smuggling network active across the Balkan route, European police coordination agency Europol said on July 16.

The criminal network allegedly smuggled a large number of migrants between January and July 2026 alone, transporting them via Bulgaria, through Serbia and towards Western European countries, Europol said.

Seizures include three vehicles used for migrant smuggling activities, firearms and ammunition, a radio station, mobile devices and cash – 5700 euro and 40 000 Serbian dinars.

Active since 2025, the criminal network is suspected of smuggling migrants from Türkiye via Bulgaria and Serbia into Western Europe, Europol said.

The core members are Serbian nationals based in Pirot, Serbia, and the network is allegedly involved in smuggling large groups of Afghan nationals.

Migrants arriving from Türkiye were transported through Bulgaria, where they were dropped off near the Bulgarian-Serbian green border.

From there, they crossed independently to pre-arranged GPS coordinates, where they were picked up by network members.

The network provided temporary accommodation and arranged onward transportation across Serbia toward Western Europe. Migrants paid about 1000 euro per person for transport from the Bulgarian-Serbian border to Belgrade. They paid around 300 euro per person for the next leg of the smuggling route, Belgrade to the Serbian-Hungarian border. Most payments were made using the Hawala money transfer system.

Europol organised and coordinated multiple operational meetings between stakeholders, facilitating the exchange of operational data.

Additionally, four Bulgarian investigators were deployed to Serbia, with Europol’s financial support, to assist Serbian authorities. On the action day, Europol also deployed an expert to Serbia, conducting real-time cross-checks against its databases to support national law enforcement.

This action was conducted under a dedicated Europol regional taskforce, established in September 2023. A dedicated officer was deployed to Sofia, Bulgaria to support national authorities in tackling migrant smuggling networks active across the Balkan route. Most recently, Serbia joined the taskforce.

(Photo: foxumon/ freeimages.com)