Cyprus authorities arrest alleged migrant smuggler
Cypriot police say they have arrested the 49-year-old driver of a boat that brought 61 Syrian migrants to the east Mediterranean island nation.
Police spokesman Andreas Angelides said the man suspected of people trafficking will appear in court for a remand hearing Thursday.
He was arrested after trying to evade police by jumping off the boat into the sea off the island's northwestern coast, where the vessel landed late Wednesday.
The migrants, including seven boys and one woman, are being transferred to a migrant shelter facility outside the capital, Nicosia.
The boat is believed to have set sail from Antalya, Turkey. Each migrant paid $2,000-3,000 for a place on the vessel. [AP]
