Three people have been arrested in Thessaloniki on suspicion of illegally transporting six migrants for a total payment of €31,000, Greek police said Thursday.
Officers from the Thessaloniki Migration Management Department arrested the suspects during separate vehicle checks in the city’s Stavroupoli district.
During a check of two passenger cars around midday the previous day, police found four migrants without travel documents in one vehicle. One of them was being transported in the trunk. The vehicle was driven by a 23-year-old man.
The driver of the second vehicle, a 26-year-old man, failed to comply with police signals and attempted to flee at high speed. Officers stopped the vehicle and arrested him. Another migrant without travel documents was found inside.
Migrants paid €5,000 each
According to the police investigation, the four migrants had illegally entered Greece through a point along the Greek-Bulgarian border.
Police said each had paid €5,000 to a member of a smuggling network, with Thessaloniki as their final destination.
Later that afternoon, also in Stavroupoli, officers stopped a passenger car driven by a 59-year-old man. Two more migrants without travel documents were found inside.
The investigation found that the two had also entered Greece illegally, this time through a point along the Greek-Turkish border. Each had paid €2,000 to a member of a smuggling network to be transported to Thessaloniki.
The three suspects face criminal charges and will be brought before the competent prosecutor.
Police seized three cellphones and the three vehicles used to transport the migrants.
