Croatian police arrested a Moldovan man in the capital Zagreb on Friday following a high-speed chase of a vehicle carrying nearly three dozen migrants.
The pursuit began after police tried to pull over a van suspected of trafficking migrants on a highway linking Zagreb with the coastal city of Split.
The driver refused to pull over and sped off along the highway, according to a police statement.
“After seriously violating traffic regulations he continued driving through Zagreb,” the police said.
The driver, a 31-year-old Moldovan national, was arrested after hitting a police vehicle blocking a road, which allowed authorities to arrest him.
Police found 32 migrants in the van, with at least two sustaining minor injuries.
Croatia, an EU member since 2013, lies along the so-called Balkans route used by migrants trying to reach Western Europe.
During the first 10 months of last year, nearly 63,000 migrants — mostly Afghans, Turks, Moroccans and Pakistanis — crossed illegally into Croatia, according to official figures.
