Police in North Macedonia have found 86 people crammed into a truck and an attached trailer near the southern border town of Gevgelija.
The people, identified as migrants from Pakistan, Syria, and India, were discovered late on July 23 during a routine inspection, police said on July 24.
They gave no other details about them, but said the truck driver, a 44-year-old identified only by the initials D.M., was arrested. If convicted of smuggling, he faces up to five years in prison.
The migrants are believed to have entered North Macedonia illegally from Greece and were headed to Serbia and onward to wealthier European countries. They have been transferred to a reception center in Gevgelija pending deportation to Greece.
The relaxation of restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more migrants attempting to use the Balkan route into Europe.