26 migrants rescued off Symi, one man arrested for trafficking
[Andoni Lubaki/AP]
A 20-year-old male was arrested by the Symi Port Authority on Saturday for allegedly trafficking migrants into Greece.
The man was detained after a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat intercepted a speedboat carrying 26 foreigners (14 men, six women, and six minors) off Lapathos beach, west of the island of Symi in the southeastern Aegean. The migrants were rescued and transferred to the island where they told authorities they paid traffickers 4,500 euros each for their transit to Greece.
The migrants on the boat stated that they left the Turkish town of Datca, 22 kilometers northwest of Symi, on Friday evening after paying the amount for their transportation to Greece.
