Five suspected members of smuggling gangs have been arrested in a single day near Greece’s northeastern land border with Turkey on suspicion of ferrying migrants westward in cars, police said Wednesday.
The suspects were all described as foreign nationals, but no further details were provided. All the arrests were made on Tuesday, in the Evros region.
A police statement said they were found to be ferrying a total 25 people, while in one case eight people, including the driver, had been squashed into a single car.
Tens of thousands of people from the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa enter Greece every year, hoping to move on into Europe’s prosperous heartland in search of a better life. They mostly pay smugglers to help them across the border and on into other European countries.
Although Greek authorities have built a high fence along much of the Evros border, more than 4,600 people have been detected entering that way since January 1.
