A 46-year-old Italian man was arrested for illegally smuggling five Syrian refugees, including a 14-year-old, whom he was carrying in the trunk of a private car.

Police officers of the Department of Migration Management of Pieria stopped the vehicle driven by the 46-year-old man yesterday morning at the toll road of Leptokaria and in the subsequent check the trafficked foreigners were identified. Apart from the minor, his 24-year-old brother was found in the trunk, while the other three compatriots were in the cabin of the car.

According to information, their destination was Athens, while they had previously been transported, for a fee, from Evros to Thessaloniki. The 46-year-old man, allegedly a member of a criminal group that illegally traffics foreigners, was taken to the prosecutor of the Katerini district court.