Greek Police said on Saturday they are continuing an investigation to dismantle an international migrant-trafficking ring, following the arrests of two Greek nationals aged 54 and 57, two Italians aged 55 and 37 and a Turk aged 43 for allegedly attempting to transport 54 illegal migrants from Astakos to Italy for a fee of 135,000 euros. The 54 migrants from Syria, Somalia, Iraq and Iran were loaded in a truck in Aspropyrgos, Attica, Greece, on Good Friday and taken to Ihthyka, Aitoliko, where the two Greeks and the 53-year-old Turk were waiting in order to hide them until the boat from Italy arrived. The two Italians sailed to the area from the sea, where they were spotted by Missolonghi coast guard officers and arrested. The coast guard alerted police, who launched a search on the mainland and found the migrants, and the three men were arrested on Saturday morning. Authorities are now seeking the truck driver that transported them from Aspropyrgos and will also investigate phone records of nine mobile phones found on the suspects. They are also examining the migrants for further information concerning the ring’s activities. Based on information collected so far, the migrants were approached in various locations in Attica and each asked to pay 2,500 euros for passage to Italy. For the time being, the migrants are being held at the police headquarters in Missolonghi. (source: ana-mpa)
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
