Four separate migrant-smuggling cases in Evros and Rhodope played out through police chases, a collision with a patrol car, and a traffic accident. Police arrested four smugglers yesterday (July 21) who were transporting 29 people in total, and seized the vehicles involved.
In the first case, in the early morning hours on a rural road in Evros, border-guard officers from Soufli arrested a foreign national driving a car carrying nine undocumented migrants. The driver initially ignored police signals and abandoned the moving vehicle, which then collided with a patrol car; he tried to flee on foot but was tracked down and arrested with the help of a police dog and additional officers from the Alexandroupoli police department.
In the second case, at midday on a rural road in Evros, the same officers arrested another foreign national driving a car carrying three undocumented migrants.
In the third case, in the afternoon on the Egnatia Odos highway between Alexandroupoli and Komotini, a van and a car collided in a traffic accident; border-guard officers from Sapes arrested a Greek national driving the van, which was found to be carrying 13 undocumented migrants, six of whom are being treated at hospitals in Alexandroupoli and Komotini.
In the fourth case, that evening on the old national road between Komotini and Xanthi, crime-prevention officers from Komotini arrested a foreign national driving a car carrying four undocumented migrants.
Vehicles and phones were seized in all cases, and the arrested suspects will be brought before prosecutors. The Soufli, Sapes and Iasmos border-guard units are handling the preliminary investigations.
