Oct. 21 () –
The Greek Coast Guard service has managed to rescue this Friday 75 migrants in danger of death by drifting in Mediterranean waters, on a day that the country’s Police has dismantled a human trafficking network in an operation that has been settled with nine detainees.
The rescue has taken place in the waters of the Peloponnese peninsula and has begun after the occupants of the boat launched a request for help due to the strong winds in the area, which threatened to capsize the ship.
The survivors have been identified as 69 men and six women, “all in good health” and transferred to the port of Neápolis, according to the Coast Guard statement published on its website. There is no record of missing persons.
On the other hand, the Greek Police confirmed this Friday the arrest of at least nine people involved in a human trafficking network made up of at least 23 members.
According to the police statement collected by DPA, the detainees have been identified as three Greeks and six foreigners, while another 14 accomplices are still on the run.
The network had been transporting migrants from Turkey to Greece in stolen vehicles for months via the usual route of the Evros River.
According to the police investigation, the traffickers charged 6,000 euros to each person, who ended up in the port of Thessaloniki as a stopover either to North Macedonia, for which the traffickers charged an additional 1,500 euros, or to Western Europe, at a cost of 3,000 euros more. Migrants could obtain a forged passport for the added cost of 1,500 euros.
In one of the raids carried out in the operation, the Police have seized almost one million euros, according to the police statement on the operation, of which no further details have emerged.
