Croatian courts and prisons are swamped with people smuggling cases, Vecernji List daily said on Monday, adding that 651 migrant smugglers are detained in Croatian prisons.

In the last year, there has been almost no day when the police have not reported about migrants and migrant smugglers being caught.

According to the statements and confessions of some smugglers before Croatian courts, they earn up to €2,000 per smuggled person if the person is brought to the agreed destination. They do it for gain, but tell judges they just want to improve their poor material situation.

Although Croatian police catch migrants and smugglers along the entire border, they are busiest on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, which makes Karlovac County Court the court most swamped with migrant smuggling cases.

Migrants come from all over the world, even China, Moldova and India. After the police catch them, they apply for asylum, obtaining, under the law, a seven-day visa, during which time they must leave Croatia and the EU. They use this time to find other routes to go west.

Caught smugglers, on the other hand, stay in Croatia's justice system several years, depending on the sentence given. Judges say they are always given a prison sentence and a five. This crime is punishable with one to eight years in jail, or three to 12 in cases when the safety of citizens is jeopardised, which is happening with increasing frequency, with several police chases after people smugglers on Croatian roads recently.

Judges also say they sentence smugglers to prison terms above the minimum prescribed by law, the daily said in conclusion.