Spain: Police pounce on gang smuggling migrants in trucks

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police say law enforcement agencies in nine countries helped break up a network that smuggled hundreds of Pakistanis into the European Union through the Balkans. Spain’s National Police said Thursday that the migrants were crammed into the back of trucks in dangerous conditions and charged up to 20,000 euros ($23,000) each. Fifteen people, including 12 Spaniards, have been detained on suspicion of having brought at least 400 people into the EU during the last eight months. The suspected ringleader was arrested in Romania. The operation involved police from Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy, Greece, Italy and Romania, with support from the EU crime agency Europol.