(ANSA) - BELGRADE - A total of 482,014 people, vehicles and premises were checked and 180 people were arrested last week during a massive joint operation against crime originating from the Western Balkans, Europol said in note.

More than 8,000 officers from 28 countries, from Frontex and Interpol, took part at Europol's headquarters and on the field at the so-called Joint Action Days (JADs), coordinated by EMPACT Firearms and Europol. The operation was organized to tackle in particular "illegal trafficking of firearms and drugs, facilitated illegal migration and document fraud," Europol noted.

The preparatory phase for the operation began already in early 2018, with operational meetings and intelligence-gathering activities; 32 arrests were made at that time, Europol said. Between September 5 and 9 only, the operations led to the arrest of 148 people, including 13 migrants' smugglers, 71 irregular migrants, 36 drug traffickers, 8 firearms and drug traffickers and 16 document fraudsters. Moreover, 159 firearms, explosives and other weapons seized, 1,462 pieces of ammunition and 286 kg of drugs were seized. Since last week, 21 new investigations were initiated, Europol added, so the total number of arrests may further increase.