The Port Authority of Samos was informed at noon on Sunday of the existence of a suspicious speedboat vessel, which was moving at speed from the Turkish coast towards Agathonisi. A patrol boat of the Liberation Department immediately arrived at the spot, which spotted the speedboat and, after immobilizing it, picked up a total of 24 foreigners (5 men, 2 women and 15 minors).

The aforementioned were transferred to a vessel of the Italian Coast Guard of the FRONTEX force and were safely transported to the port of Malagari. They were then handed over to officers of the Samos/TDM Police Directorate in order to be transferred to a Closed Facility on the island.

A 25 year old foreigner of the above, was identified as the pilot of the boat and was arrested for violation of article 83 of Law 3386/2005“Illegal entry into the country” and article 25 of Law 5038/2023“Trafficking of third country nationals in Greece”

The Port Authority of Samos, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, seized the speedboat with outboard motor and a mobile phone device.