Police catch 34 illegal migrants, three Slovaks charged with smuggling

Three Slovaks are facing charges of people smuggling after being caught attempting to smuggle 34 foreigners of Vietnamese origin into Slovakia. This was reported by Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Denisa Baloghová to TASR on Tuesday. Initially, 20 migrants were caught by police near the eastern Slovak village of Podhoroď after illegally crossing the border from Ukraine on May 31. A man identified by authorities as Miroslav P., 38, was expected to drive them to Austria for a financial reward. "Police officers thwarted his plans, however, when a mobile police unit flagged down his car close to Sobranovce. After pulling over, the defendant jumped out of the vehicle and ran to Sobranovce, where police captured and arrested him," said Baloghová. If found guilty, the accused faces between three to eight years in jail. A remaining group of 14 Vietnamese citizens was apprehended near the eastern Slovak village of Koromľa on June 1 and extradited back to Ukraine.