Slovak police catch 78 illegal migrants in trucks in Žilina

Police have detained 78 illegal migrants in two trucks in Žilina, Police Corps spokesperson Denisa Baloghová told TASR on Tuesday. "On November 14, 2017 at 00:30 a.m. police officers stopped two lorries at Hrdinov Square in the borough of Budatin. They asked the drivers of Turkish nationality to open their trailers and at the same time they notified colleagues from the financial administration, as the trucks had been sealed. After opening the trailers, they found that besides goods there were 78 men, women and children of Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian nationalities present in the vehicles," said Baloghová. According to preliminary information, the foreigners probably embarked in Romania and were travelling via Hungary and Slovakia to Germany. The price for this 'one-way ticket' was around €500. The police officers forwarded the detained foreigners to the foreign police department in Bratislava. An investigator from the National Unit for Combating Illegal Migration has already launched a criminal prosecution for the crime of people smuggling, added Baloghová.