Posted: Posted July 4, 2021 / 6:53 a.m. CDT / Has been updated: July 4, 2021 / 6:53 a.m. CDT

Belgrade, Serbia (AP) – Serbian police said on Sunday they found an illegal immigrant camp near the Hungarian-Romanian border and arrested smugglers.

According to a police statement, the temporary camp was found in the village of Srpski Krstur on the banks of the Tisa river. The number of migrants found at the site has not been determined.

Police video at the scene showed several people lying on the ground with their hands behind their heads as special police searched for tents and wooden shelters. The footage showed a confiscated cell phone and knife.

“This smuggling gang has committed criminal activities and endangered its citizens,” said Interior Minister Alexander Vrin. “This is unacceptable.”

Thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa or Asia are turning to immigrant smugglers as they search for ways to reach Western Europe. Immigrants from Serbia seek to travel to neighboring states of the European Union, Hungary, Croatia and Romania. Or, go to Bosnia first, find a way to reach neighboring Croatia from there, then head to the wealthier countries in the EU.

According to Vrin, the smuggling suspects are involved in the theft and blackmail of other migrants. Immigrants found in temporary camps will be transferred to a state center for asylum seekers in the south of the country, where local police and counterterrorism authorities will take charge of suspected criminal activity, according to a statement.

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