In the early hours of Sunday, 27 September 2026, Plzeň city police carried out an extensive security operation that placed a special focus on the city’s main bus and rail stations—key transit points for domestic and international travellers. Dozens of officers from the public-order, traffic, criminal-investigation and canine units were joined by specialists from the Immigration Police. Over a six-hour period they inspected 688 people, 462 of whom were foreign nationals, in an effort to curb unlawful residence, people-smuggling and other cross-border offences. The sweep comes as Czechia experiences a seasonal uptick in cross-border movement linked to next week’s Statehood Day public holiday. Police data show that long-distance coach routes and regional trains have become preferred corridors for migrants trying to avoid scrutiny at the EU’s external frontier and for third-country nationals who overstay short-term visas. By concentrating manpower on transport hubs, authorities hope to detect irregular migrants before they disperse across the country. Sunday’s operation uncovered eight immigration-related misdemeanours, resulting in on-the-spot fines totalling CZK 9,500 (EUR 380). Officers also located one foreign national who was the subject of an existing arrest warrant, highlighting the value of joint checks that combine immigration databases with criminal records. On the traffic side, 15 road offences were recorded, including one drunk driver with a blood-alcohol level of 1.8‰. For companies that rotate staff through West Bohemia or rely on cross-border commuters from Germany and Slovakia, the message is clear: documentation must be in order and employees should be prepared for spot-checks away from the physical frontier. Mobility managers are advised to remind business travellers to carry original passports, Schengen short-stay proof and—where applicable—residence permits at all times, even on domestic legs of a journey. Employers of foreign workers should also review internal compliance files; police confirmed that similar unannounced actions will continue throughout the autumn. The Plzeň deployment forms part of a nationwide strategy that integrates municipal, regional and foreign-police units to cover ‘secondary’ borders such as airports, coach terminals and rail stations. Since the Entry/Exit System (EES) went live in April, overstays are automatically flagged. However, Czech authorities say physical ID checks remain essential to intercept forged documents and to enforce labour-code violations that do not appear in EU databases.
Source: Týdeník Policie
