Editorial March 3, 2024 1:13 p.m
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SLAVONSKI BROD (Croatia) – More horrific violence along the Balkan route. According to the editorial team, the images published by TriestePrima show four migrants in the Julian capital who were victims of beatings, kidnappings and torture. According to the witness (who received the video that the kidnappers used to blackmail the families of the four young people), the migrants are of Pakistani, Indian and Nepalese nationalities. The fourth migrant, shown with his face uncovered while being beaten with a stick and tied with a chain, is also believed to be of Nepalese nationality, but he has a tattoo on his chest in the Farsi language (which could “reveal” his knowledge of Iranian). ). Origin). The violent incidents occurred about four days ago and occurred not far from the town of Oprisavci, a town in northeast Croatia and about twenty kilometers from Slavonski Brod. “The human traffickers who kidnapped these young people are Afghans,” says a witness.
Last summer's episode
Last summer, TriestePrima met four young people of Bangladeshi origin who were victims of kidnappings and kidnappings along the Serbia-Bulgaria border. According to the witness statement, the young people were tied to the trees with rags around their necks and threatened with death until they were handed over six thousand euros. A statement that redrew the map of territorial control in this part of the Balkans, following recent police operations in which some trafficking gangs were beheaded on the border between Serbia and Hungary. In fact, it is no secret that in the northeast of the Balkans, part of the migrant trade is in the hands of smugglers, very often from Afghanistan. It was an investigation by Balkan Insight that reported on some of the regular violence along the route.
Human trafficking gangs
Various human trafficking gangs operate in Serbia, each able to control different areas of the country. In addition to the Tetwani group (a gang of Moroccan origin, led by a certain Mohammed Tetwani, also known as Mohammed Maghrebi and believed to be on the run in a European country), the war for territory has increased among them the Afghans. From an initial band, there are now at least two formations and both have names that refer to numbers: the first is called 313 because it pays homage to a Taliban battalion (the Badri 313); The second, born out of a violent breakup, is called 400/59 and features crime-style videos going crazy on Tik Tok. The Balkan Insight investigation also reveals a significant role to be played in the smuggling and selling of weapons to groups such as those responsible for the kidnapping of the four Bangladeshis, as well as in running a significant part of the business being sought in the relations between the Albanian mafia and Syrian gangs (operating on the border between Serbia and Croatia) in the context of what has been happening in Kosovo for some time.