Woman, 45, arrested in Thessaloniki on people smuggling charges

A 45-year-old woman has been arrested in northern Greece on people smuggling charges after police found 15 illegal migrants in her car on the Egnatia Highway near Thessaloniki.

According to reports, the arrest was made on Wednesday evening. The migrants, who did not have travel documents with them, had crossed into Greece illegally over the Turkish land border and paid the woman a fee to take them to Thessaloniki.

In recent months there has been an increase in arrivals of undocumented migrants over the land border with Turkey, prompting a crackdown by police.

Earlier this year, Greek authorities and Europol agreed to work together to curb human trafficking in the northeast of the country.