Slovenian police have helped dismantle a smuggling network operated by Pakistani nationals, which was facilitating the illegal entry of migrants into Italy via the Balkan route through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.
Over the past several months, the Criminal Police Division of the Koper Police Directorate collaborated closely with Italian police—namely the Central Operations Service and the Organised Crime Division of the Mobile Unit at the Trieste Police Headquarters—on an investigation into crimes related to the facilitation of illegal entry, movement and stay of foreign nationals in Italy, as well as kidnapping for the purpose of extortion. Authorities from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina also took part in the joint operation.
The investigation was launched in February 2024 after an irregular migrant from India reported his experience to the authorities. He had travelled with a group along the Balkan route from Bosnia and Herzegovina, passing through Croatia and Slovenia before reaching Italy, guided by smugglers who led them across borders using remote forest paths.
Upon arriving in Italy, the migrant and his friend were lured into an apartment in Trieste, where two Pakistani nationals—legally residing in the country—detained them by force and held them captive for two days. During this time, the pair were subjected to both physical and psychological abuse. The perpetrators recorded the abuse and sent the footage to the victims' families in India, demanding €2,000 for their release. The ransom payment was ultimately traced to a foreign national residing in Trieste.
Thorough police investigations led the Italian judicial authorities to issue multiple European Investigation Orders, facilitating evidence collection across several countries, including Slovenia. In Slovenia, the pre-trial proceedings were overseen by the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Koper, with investigative measures carried out by criminal investigators from the Koper Police Directorate.
Over the course of just a few months, investigators were able to reconstruct numerous instances of illegal border crossings involving migrants of various nationalities—including Pakistani, Nepali, Afghan and Indian—who were smuggled from refugee camps in Bosnia, particularly from the camp in Bihać. Their journey took them along forest paths through Croatia and Slovenia towards Italy, with smugglers typically charging between €4,000 and €6,000 per person.
The joint criminal investigation resulted in seven arrest warrants being issued by a judge in Trieste and executed on 14 May 2025. Two of the warrants targeted suspects outside Italy. One of them—a 20-year-old Pakistani national—was apprehended in Logatec, Slovenia, by the Criminal Police Division of the Koper Police Directorate under a European Arrest Warrant. Italian police arrested all five suspects located within their territory, while one suspect, believed to be hiding somewhere between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, remains at large.
During the final phase of the investigation, Italian police also seized illegal drugs, balaclavas and various dangerous items including brass knuckles, clubs, and knives—tools allegedly used by the criminal group during their operations.
Earlier in the investigation, on 14 November 2024, a 23-year-old Afghan national was arrested in Slovenia and brought before an investigating judge in Koper, who ordered his detention. He is suspected of extorting €2,000 per person and assaulting two migrants near a construction site on the second rail track between Divača and Lokev in exchange for their release.
This case highlights the strong international cooperation between the Slovenian police—specifically the Koper Criminal Police Division—and foreign law enforcement in the fight against human smuggling across national borders. Slovenian police work effectively not only at the international level, but also at the national, regional and local levels through coordinated operations, joint criminal investigations and mixed patrols.
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