Authorities at sea over smuggling of immigrants

Gangs getting more sophistocated

Improving weather in the Aegean may be a good omen for the tourism industry, but coast guards are dreading the influx of thousands of boats into Greek waters, authorities told Kathimerini as part of an investigation into people smuggling.

Coast guard officers said that smugglers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the methods they use to bring migrants into Greece illegally.

Aging wooden fishing boats are gradually being replaced by luxury yachts and high-powered speedboats as the vessels of choice for traffickers. Coast guards said these types of boats attract less attention in the busy Aegean during the summer, which is the peak season for illegal crossings into Greece.

The yachts, for example, are usually hired by smugglers for a few weeks. Between 50 and 100 migrants will be ferried to Greek islands or the mainland on each of the yacht’s crossings.

Coast guards said that some speedboats had engines that were more powerful than their own fastest patrol boats.

Sources indicated that at least five well-organized international rings smuggle migrants into Greece. Greeks are involved in these gangs but usually at the top end of the structure, meaning that they do not get involved in actually transporting people.

These rings are also closely linked to drugs trafficking, sources told Kathimerini.

“They start out trying their luck by transporting illegal immigrants. If they succeed and believe they have found weak links in the protection of the borders, they move on to the trafficking of contraband cigarettes and drugs, which have a bigger profit margin,” an officer who did not want to be named told Kathimerini.

In some cases, the migrants who are smuggled over are also made to carry drugs.

There are two main routes used to ferry illegal immigrants to Greece. One is from Turkish shores to the eastern coast of Evia or eastern Aegean islands such as Kos and Lesvos. This is favored mostly by Afghans, Pakistanis and Indians.

The other journey involves migrants sailing from the port of Damietta in Egypt to Crete or the southern coast of the Peloponnese. This route is popular primarily with migrants from Palestine, Egypt and other African countries.

These journeys usually cost migrants up to $3,000, 70 percent of which ends up in the hands of the leaders of the smuggling rings, sources said.