North Macedonian police raid house, find 81 migrants

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Police in North Macedonia say they have found 81 migrants hidden in a house near the country’s northern border with Serbia and arrested a suspected migrant trafficker.

Police early Saturday raided the house of a 50-year-old man whom they suspected of migrant smuggling and found 81 migrants, including 19 minors. Police gave no details on how long the migrants were kept in the house, or their exact nationalities.

The migrants are believed to have entered North Macedonia from Greece and were on their way to Serbia. They were transferred to a migrant shelter and are expected to be deported back to Greece.

Although the so-called Balkan migration route into Western Europe has been closed since 2015, it is still being used by migrants heading north.