Three arrested for membership of people-smuggling gang

The Hellenic Coast Guard said on Tuesday it had dismantled a criminal organization that transported migrants from Greece to Italy, after intercepting a sailing boat with 36 migrants and refugees bound for Italy in the sea area southwest of Lefkada.

Three crew members were identified as the traffickers and arrested as members of a criminal organization.

The coast guard said the sailing boat was escorted to the port of Lefkada, where it was confiscated.

At the same time, another foreign national was located on the island and arrested as a member of the same gang.

One more man was arrested on the Greek mainland by the Achaia Traffic Police, as the driver who transported the migrants by bus to the loading point where they boarded the sailing boat.

Authorities were investigating the possible participation of others in the gang.