During a routine check, Prague police officers came across a silver Mazda filled with illegal immigrants from Syria. The car was being driven by a man without a driver’s license, who only possessed a residence permit. As a consequence, the driver may face a sentence of up to two years in prison. The other passengers were sent back to Slovakia, their country of origin. Additionally, a woman and her two children have been instructed to leave the Czech Republic.
The traffic police patrol spotted the silver Mazda at 2:30 am on Tuesday, July 18th. The driver’s suspicious behavior of driving slowly and swerving between lanes without signaling caught the attention of the officers, prompting them to stop the car. Upon investigation, they discovered that the 40-year-old driver did not possess a valid driver’s license. Furthermore, there were ten other individuals in the vehicle, originally designed to carry seven passengers, including two children, all of Syrian nationality.
Aside from the driver, who presented a residence permit to the patrol, none of the other occupants had any valid travel documents. This raised concerns of illegal border crossing and smuggling, leading the Foreign Police to be called to the scene. They took custody of all the detainees and transported them to the Kaplanova Street police station.
The man behind the wheel is suspected of organizing and facilitating the illegal crossing of the state border, which could result in a prison term of up to two years. The seven arrested individuals have been returned to the territory of Slovakia, their country of entry. Meanwhile, the woman and her two children are required to leave the territory of the Czech Republic, as stated by Rybanský.
