On Monday, October 7, officers from the Security Office and Special Missions Unit (S.M.S.) of the Central Port Authority of Rhodes apprehended 10 migrants without travel documents. Two men, suspected of being the smugglers, were arrested at the island’s new marina.
The arrests came after intelligence gathering and a coordinated operation. Authorities identified a suspicious sailing catamaran flying the Turkish flag at the marina. A 30-year-old Turkish man was seen disembarking from the boat with five foreigners, loading them into a rented vehicle, and heading toward Rhodes.
Meanwhile, a 41-year-old Turkish skipper and five other foreigners were still aboard the vessel.
According to the migrants’ statements, each had paid between 8,000 and 9,000 euros for transportation from Turkey to Greece. They also identified the two Turkish men as their traffickers.
Both the migrants and their alleged smugglers were taken to the Central Port Authority of Rhodes for processing, where they were arrested. The authorities seized the boat and the vehicle involved in the smuggling operation, and a preliminary investigation is underway.
