SMUGGLING CHAIN OF KURDS IN WESTERN EUROPE SLASHED

ZAGREB, Jan 29 (Hina) - The Croatian Police on Friday delivered four men to the remand jail in Zagreb. Rama K. (40), Zoran D. (37), Zeljko V. (44) and Nikola S. (34)are all suspected of smuggling Curds into Western European countries. A police investigation ascertained that on three separate occasions last year the suspects illegally brought Turkish citizens across the Croatian border and smuggled them to Western European countries providing them with false travel documents. The suspects in cooperation with other unidentified persons from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey organised a smuggling channel from Istanbul via Sarajevo, Zagreb and Slovenia on to Western Europe, reported Jadranko Belina, chief of the Organised Crime Section of the Croatian Police. Belina said that investigations showed that the organiser of the group was Rama K. and together with his accomplices, managed to smuggle 104 Turks over the Croatian-Slovenian border. The Slovenian police returned the Turkish citizens back to Croatia from where they were evicted back to Turkey. Belina said that the closest route from the near East to Western Europe is through Croatia. He released details whereby the Zagreb police last year arrested 1326 foreign citizens attempting to illegally cross the border. Organisers of such groups are usually involved in smuggling Turkish Curds - transferring them by plane to Sarajevo and then illegally bringing them to Croatia where they are accommodated in already prepared premises. When a group of 40 to 60 people are collected they are driven in specially prepared trucks and even camaflouged tankers which can carry up to 150 people. The price of being smuggled to Western Europe is about DM5,000. Transport from Sarajevo to Italy can cost up to DM15,000. (hina) sp