VIENNA: Austrian police are noting an increased number of human smuggling attempts in sealed trucks, with two cases involving a total of 10 people this week alone.
Police say they found five Iraqis including two infants near the border to Slovenia on Tuesday in a Turkish truck after the driver alerted them to noises from the vehicle. Four Pakistanis and an Afghan citizen were discovered in a Bosnian truck in the same region the day before, again after the driver heard noises.
Vehicles with lead seals coming from outside the EU are normally opened only when they reach their destinations. Police describe such smuggling attempts as an effort to circumvent the February closing of the West Balkans route used by hundreds of thousands of people seeking better lives in Europe.