Greek border guards today intercepted 54 clandestine immigrants, most from Iraq, and detained three people smugglers near the Turkish border, police in the northeastern town of Komotini reported today.
The immigrants were traveling in four vehicles carrying German license plates and were headed to Athens when they were stopped between the towns of Soufli and Alexandroupolis.
Turkey is a major transit point for illegal immigrants from Asia and the Middle East trying to reach western Europe.
ANA news agency said that the would-be immigrants paid a Turkish smuggler €3,000 before crossing the Evros border river in a boat. They were taken to a refugee camp near Komotini.
Police said that the human traffickers, two Lithuanians and a Greek national, were to be questioned in Alexandroupolis.
In a separate development, a court on the island of Samos sentenced a Turkish smuggler to three and a half years in prison for assisting six clandestine immigrants, the merchant marine ministry said. He was also fined €10,500 euros.
The Greek islands close to the Turkish mainland are another frequent transit point for clandestine immigrants heading west.
AFP