Refugee trafficker jumped into Strymonas in bid to escape police

A 34-year-old people trafficker dived into the Strymonas River in an unsuccessful bid to elude police over the illegal transport of four refugees, including a minor, authorities said on Thursday.

The car he was driving was spotted by police on Wednesday afternoon on the old national road linking Thessaloniki to Kavala in northern Greece, in the region of Ofryni.

The Hellenic Police said that when the suspect realized that he had been detected he accelerated and smashed into a patrol car before getting out and diving into the adjacent river. He was detained after resisting arrest. No injuries were reported during the incident.

Upon questioning, it emerged that the suspect is a Georgian national and that he had received a fee from the four Syrian nationals to drive them away from the Evros border with Turkey.