Eight migrants illegally crossed Greek-Turkish border via Evros, managed to get through Thessaloniki to Athens in two days – they were discovered only in Likovrisi during routine police patrols.
The incident occurred on the morning of August 29, when employees of the ΔΙ.ΑΣ group. spotted a car with an unusually large number of passengers in the Likovrisi area.
The car seemed suspicious, after which the police began searching the area and soon found eight foreigners aged between 17 to 27 years old.
Upon verification, it turned out that they did not have the necessary documents for legal stay in Greece.
This is reported Naftemporiki And SKAI.
Crossed the border on August 27
According to preliminary investigations, all eight entered Greek territory August 27 across a section of the Greek-Turkish border.
Immediately after crossing the border, they were picked up by members of the carrier network.
The first stop was Thessaloniki, where the group was accommodated in the so-called safe house – an apartment or house used by smugglers as a temporary shelter.
After this they were transported further south to the Athens area.
Final destination: Britain and Sweden
The investigation established that Greece was not the final destination of the trip.
Some migrants intended to continue their journey to UKpart – in Sweden.
Thus, the country was used as a transit corridor within a longer route.
Up to €17,000 per person
The financial scale of the operation is especially indicative.
According to ΕΛ.ΑΣ., each of the eight migrants paid the carriers from 5,000 to 17,000 euros.
Even at the minimum rate we are talking about at least €40,000 for one small group. At the maximum, the amount could exceed €100,000.
This once again shows that illegal migration remains a highly profitable business for organized networks of transporters.
Across the country – almost without control
The most remarkable thing about the story is the speed and route.
After illegally crossing the border, the group managed to go the following way:
- Evros;
- Thessaloniki;
- safe house;
- Athens;
- Likovrisi.
And all this – for approximately two days.
In fact, the people were discovered not during a pre-prepared operation to track the route, but after the ΔΙ.ΑΣ patrol. noticed a suspiciously filled car.
That is why the Greek media are already asking the question of how effectively the internal logistics of smuggling networks are really controlled after crossing the external border. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
What happened after the arrest
All eight were taken to the Attica Foreigners Office, where the Migration Management Department took over the investigation.
A case has been opened against them for violating the legislation on foreigners.
At the same time, the procedure was launched registration, identification and preparation for return to countries of origin.
After this, the detainees were taken to the competent prosecutor. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Irony about the “ban on leaving the country”
Some publications played up the situation with the phrase that migrants were allegedly given “a strict warning not to leave the country, because it would be illegal.”
This not official police wordingbut journalistic irony.
The official procedure, on the contrary, provides for their registration and subsequent return to their countries of origin.
Amid the Return Hubs debate
This story is especially telling against the backdrop of the decisions of Greece, Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands to create Return Hubs outside the EU.
The logic of the new system is precisely built around the problem of people who are in Europe without the right to stay, but who are difficult to quickly return back.
The case in Likovrisi shows another side of the problem: even after crossing the border illegally, smuggling networks can almost instantly move people hundreds of kilometers within the country and prepare them for further transit through Europe.
Editorial comment
The most important thing in this story is not even the eight detainees.
The route is much more interesting.
On August 27, people illegally crossed the external border of the European Union. The carriers then met them, took them to Thessaloniki, placed them in a special shelter, and then transported them across almost half the country to Athens.
Two days later they were discovered by a regular patrol.
If the investigation’s version is fully confirmed, then what we have before us is not the chaotic movement of individual people, but a functioning logistics system with accommodation, transport, intermediaries and pre-determined destinations in other European countries.
And up to €17,000 per person explains why this system continues to exist despite walls, cameras, patrols and stricter legislation.
Therefore, the question here is not only how well Evros is guarded. An equally important question is what happens after crossing the border and why the smuggling network is capable of moving people across the country in a matter of hours.
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