Galery

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The representatives of police stations in Xanthi and Alexandroupolis revealed three new cases of trafficking in illegal migrants by mini-buses and a truck with Bulgarian registration plates.

In three operations on the Egnatia highway, in the section between Komotini and Xanthi and on the secondary road connecting the two cities, the authorities apprehended three traffickers, one Greek aged 34, one Syrian aged 39 and one Bulgarian aged 52, who transported a total of 115 illegal migrants, 104 of whom were Syrians and 11 Iraqi nationals.

Early in the morning yesterday, on the Egnatia highway in the area of ​​Alexandroupolis, the officers of the special unit to combat illegal migration wanted to stop the 34-year-old Greek who was driving a mini-bus with a Bulgarian registration plate. He disregarded the order and continued to drive, and the policemen followed him.

He stopped the mini-bus in the area near the village of Iasmos and tried to escape on foot but the police stopped and apprehended him. During the inspection of the mini-bus, they found 22 illegal migrants inside.

Shortly afterwards the policemen from the border police unit in the village of Kotolo apprehended the 39-year-old Syrian. They stopped to check a mini-bus with a Bulgarian registration plate, which was travelling from Komotini to Xanthi on the Egnatia highway and found 34 illegal migrants inside.

In the third case, the police officers from the police station in the village of Genisea apprehended the 52-year-old Bulgarian citizen, as 59 illegal migrants were found in the mini-bus that he was driving on the road Komotini - Xanthi.

The three vehicles and the mobile phones of the traffickers were seized. The detainees testified before the regional prosecutor's offices.