Authorities dismantle major migrant smuggling network in Rhodes
A major migrant smuggling network trafficking migrants from Turkey to Rhodes was dismantled after a joint operation by the National Intelligence Service (EYP) and the Coast Guard, it was reported on Thursday.
The Syrian smuggler with the code name “Abu Hamza” was arrested on Wednesday. He is considered the leader of the 11-member ring and had been a target of the authorities for the past few years, as he was believed to be responsible for a fatal shipwreck off the coast of Lesvos.
Authorities estimate that in the past two years, 60% of the migrants who disembarked in Rhodes and the Dodecanese were trafficked by the network controlled by “Abu Hamza”. The starting points of their journeys were Marmaris and the Turkish city of Fethiye.
The network used luxurious villas as hideouts, which they rented through online applications and then supplied the migrants with fake documents so that they could continue their journey to the mainland.
