Jails filling with human traffickers
More than one in five inmates in Greek prisons are accused of or have been convicted of human trafficking, with arrests reaching record levels. Accused or convicted traffickers now number 2,223 out of a total number of 10,678 prisoners, only slightly behind those remanded or convicted of drug offenses (2,508), habitually the largest population prison category.
Besides the arrests, other factors contributing to the large numbers are the often lengthy remand period, which can reach 18 months, and the fact that convicted traffickers are not released pending an appeal, as a 2014 law stipulates.
Sentences for traffickers can be up to 10 years per person smuggled into the country or transported within it. Thus, for example, the driver of a van carrying 10 migrants who entered Greece illegally who was arrested late Tuesday faces up to 100 years in jail.
Most of the arrests take place in the northeastern region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, which is hardly a surprise given that it is the one region with a land border with Turkey, to the east.
In September alone, police arrested 91 suspected traffickers, up from 74 in August. Even more were arrested in the three-month period from May-July 2022, a total of 386, up 58% from last year. The big rise, as well as the greater number of people attempting to cross into Greece illegally can be at least partly attributed to the relaxation in travel rules as the Covid-19 pandemic has entered a less acute phase.
Among the arrested suspects, “there are Greeks, Syrians, but also citizens from other Balkan countries, such as Serbia,” a senior official told Kathimerini.
The arrested suspects typically hide migrants in their vehicles to transport them to the interior of the country and onward to more prosperous EU countries which the vast majority wants to go to, all that for a hefty fee.
As a result of the arrests, prisons are overflowing: The prison in the northeastern town of Komotini, for example, built to house 162 inmates, had 319 on October 1. Holding pens in police precincts house over 25 people instead of 15, a local police officer said.
