SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Police in North Macedonia say they have detained and plan to deport back to neighboring Greece 79 migrants found hidden in a truck near the two countries’ border.
A police statement says the migrants were discovered by a joint border patrol of officers from North Macedonia and Hungary Sunday on a road near the southern border town of Gevgelija.
The truck driver was arrested and the migrants were transferred to a shelter center in Gevgelija ahead of their deportation.
Monday’s police statement provided no details on the migrants’ nationalities.
Despite a series of border closures in 2016, thousands of migrants who enter Greece illegally from Turkey continue to trek through the Balkans as they seek to reach Europe’s prosperous heartland.