Six arrested for smuggling migrants from Greece to Italy

23 migrants were be transferred from Corfu to Italy on Friday when the suspects were arrested

epa08552940 A Spanish Coast Guard boat carrying 61 migrants rescued at sea docks at the port of Gran Tarajal, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, 17 July 2020.  EPA/CARLOS DE SAA
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Six people have been arrested on suspicion of illegal migrant smuggling from Greece to Italy with yachts, Greek police said on Saturday.

Police raids on the island of Corfu and in the region around Athens on Friday led to the arrest of five foreign nationals and a Greek man accused of taking part in a criminal organisation that has been active since June 2019.

The organisation’s members bought vessels, mainly yachts, that could carry at least 15 people, and declared most of the owners to be Bulgarian, police said.

Migrants willing to pay €5,500 (Dh23,087) were sent to Corfu by land in groups of four, where they were booked into hotels.

The foreign-flagged yachts were then brought to nearby ports where the migrants could board discretely.

When they were arrested on Friday, the smugglers were transporting 23 migrants from Corfu to Italy.