Slovenian police in 2018 arrested nearly 180 people who are in the business of illegally transporting migrants, Slovene police official Tomaz Persolja told the Ljubljana-based Delo daily on Thursday.

Slovenian police in 2018 arrested nearly 180 people who are in the business of illegally transporting migrants, Slovene police official Tomaz Persolja told the Ljubljana-based Delo daily on Thursday.

Slovenian nationals make up less than one-third of those arrested while illegally transporting migrants while the rest are foreign nationals and often migrants who have already managed to obtain a residence status in some European country, such as Italy, Germany and France, Persolja said.

When it comes to transporting migrants from Croatia to Slovenia, the price ranges from approximately 300 euros per person up, Persolja said, adding that it was necessary to distinguish between those organising illegal transport and operatives working in the field who end up in the hands of the police, Persolja said.

The sentence for organising illegal crossings of the state border in Slovenia is up to 8 years in prison plus a fine.