Illegal Migration

Migrants found locked up in abandoned van

Police on Saturday detained 45 illegal migrants found locked up in an abandoned van in the Nea Filadelfia suburb of Athens. DIAS motorcycle police spotted a parked van, and 45 migrants -- 42 from Afghanistan, 2 from Iraq and one from Egypt -- locked in the back of the van. An investigation turned up that members of an organised migrant-smuggling ring had approached the migrants in various parts of central Athens and offered to smuggle them into Italy via Igoumenitsa port, at a cost of 1,000-1,500 euros each. Some of the migrants pre-paid the asked sum, while the rest were to pay upon their arrival in Italy. For reasons as yet unknown, the migrant smugglers did not carry out the transportation, and abandoned the van with the migrants locked inside at the spot where the police found the vehicle. Six migrants, members of the ring, were being sought by police.
(31.12.2011) ATHENS NEWS
more