Police pounce on human-trafficking ring in Greece
ATHENS: Police said yesterday they had broken up an international criminal organisation smuggling migrants and refugees through Greece, one of the main gateways into the EU.
Officers arrested 12 people from Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria in raids on apartments and other locations across Athens early on Sunday and confiscated hundreds of fake identity cards, passports and other documents, the force said.
The smugglers were divided into six units which helped migrants travel from Turkey via the Greek island of Kos on to Macedonia and Italy on planes, buses and trains.
Police attached an organisation chart of at least 30 suspects, plus an unknown number of associates in Turkey, drawn up after what they called one of their biggest operations against people smugglers.
The gang gave fake asylum registration documents to migrants arriving on Kos in exchange for about € 3 000 (R45 100) each, the police added.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees – mostly from war-torn Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq – have crossed the Aegean Sea this year from Turkey, attempting a short but risky trip in wooden boats or rubber dinghies. Many have died at sea.
The surge in people fleeing violence and poverty in Africa and the Middle East has increased pressure on Greece, which is struggling to overcome its worst economic crisis in decades.
Almost 400 000 migrants have arrived in Greece this year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has made managing migration a top priority for his recently reelected government, and visited the island of Lesbos on Tuesday. – Reuters