A total eight suspected members of smuggling rings have been arrested separately driving undocumented migrants in vehicles – including one on a motorbike – across northern Greece, police said Thursday.
Two people only identified as foreign nationals were taken into custody Wednesday near the northeastern land border with Turkey after being caught carrying five and three people respectively west towards Thessaloniki.
In the same area, another five people – including one Greek man – were arrested Tuesday after being caught driving a total 22 migrants west. In one case, the suspected smuggler was driving a motorbike with one passenger on the back, while another suspect crashed a car with eight migrants in it, all who required hospital treatment.
And in the northwestern Kastoria region, a man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly driving a migrant into Greece from neighboring Albania.
Greece is currently the main point of entry for people from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa seeking a better life in the European Union. Most intend to travel on from Greece towards the continent’s prosperous heartland.
