Greek police net international migrant-smuggling gang

The Greek Police on Monday said it has dismantled an international criminal organization that helped smuggle undocumented migrants from Turkey into Central and Northern Europe via Iraklio’s Nikos Kazantzakis Airport on the island of Crete.

After a lengthy investigation, authorities arrested 11 suspects, two of whom are Greek nationals reported to have been working at the airport and facilitating the illegal transfers.

According to the investigation, the gang – which is believed to have been active since 2014 – would charge migrants between 2,500 and 4,000 euros each to bring them from Turkey to Athens, then ferry them by boat to Crete before arranging for them to board flights to other European countries with forged travel documents.

The nationalities of the other people arrested are Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese.