Man arrested for locking up 13 migrants in abandoned building

A 20-year-old man was arrested in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Thursday for locking up 13 migrants, among them six minors, in an abandoned building against their will.

Police located the migrants in the area of Echedoros and arrested their captor. Officers found that neither the 20-year-old nor the migrants held travel documents. They also found that the perpetrator along with his partners were demanding money from the migrants to release them.

The suspect is accused of forming a criminal organisation, illegal detention and hostage-taking, blackmail and transfer of migrants into Greece. He is expected to appear before a prosecutor today while authorities are searching for other individuals that are involved in the case.