A Greek suspected trafficker was arrested following a road chase near the northeastern land border with Turkey driving a car with seven migrants squashed into it, police said Wednesday.
The new arrest brings to 13 the number of suspected smugglers detained in the Evros border region over the past week, while nearly 80 migrants were found in cars they were driving.
Police said the latest suspect initially ignored instructions to stop and tried to escape police, driving dangerously, before being forced to stop and being arrested.
Although Greece has built a fence along much of the land border to deter illegal migration by people seeking a better life in the European Union, flows from Turkey continue.
So far this year, about 2,800 people have been recorded as crossing into Greece through the Evros land border – out of a total 14,600 arrivals by land and sea from Turkey and north Africa. About half the overall number traveled from Libya to Crete in small boats.
