Thirteen charged over smuggling migrants from Southeast Asia through Czechia

Czech police have charged 13 people with smuggling migrants from Southeast Asia through Czechia to Germany. The international group, which included Czech nationals, organized the illegal crossing of at least 63 people via Romania and Hungary, charging hundreds of euros per person, police said. The case, codenamed Klondajk, led to arrests in Prague and in the Ústí and Central Bohemian regions, with two main organizers placed in custody. Czechia remains mainly a transit country for illegal migration, though police report a rise in air travel using forged Schengen documents.