German police have stopped five Polish taxis carrying 18 Chechen would-be immigrants after they crossed the border from Poland, a police spokesman in the northern port of Rostock said Wednesday, according to DPA. The incident, which took place just days after border formalities were lifted as Poland and other Eastern European countries joined the Schengen zone, occurred on Tuesday. Police detained three men and four women aged between 25 and 33, as well as 11 children, aged 11 months to 8 years, police spokesman Stefan Perschall said. The five full taxis travelling in convoy had immediately drawn the attention of mobile patrols, he said. The Chechens were carrying asylum-seeker papers issued by the Polish authorities and were on their way to Berlin. The 18 were to be deported back to Poland, the police spokesman said. In the early hours of Monday, German and Polish border authorities detained 59 Chechens attempting to enter Germany using the Warsaw- Berlin train. The Chechens were found shortly before the train crossed into Germany. Formal border controls were lifted ceremonially at midnight on Thursday.
