Migrant trafficking rings shift focus to Peloponnese
Human trafficking rings smuggling undocumented migrants out of Greece have shifted their activities to the shores of the Peloponnese, Kathimerini understands.
More than 500 migrants have departed for Italy from the beaches of Ilia and Messinia in recent months, according to official figures.
Over the weekend, authorities stopped a boat carrying 64 people off the coast of Glyfa, Ilia. A few days earlier, a boat with 62 migrants aboard was intercepted off the coast of Marathi, Messinia.
The rackets, which pocket up to 3,000 euros per migrant, appear to be seeking spots that are relatively inaccessible to Greek authorities, from Preveza, in northwestern Greece, down to Messinia, sources said.
Local and regional authorities have appealed to the government to step in and stop their areas becoming “trafficking spots.”
