Border guards found to be on the take
Five officers from the Didymoteicho Border Guard Department in northeastern Greece were arrested on Monday after a five-month investigation and charged with smuggling migrants from Turkey, authorities announced on Tuesday.
Their activity is estimated to have started in October 2022 at the latest, with the investigation finding that in at least 12 cases they helped, in return for payment, undocumented immigrants cross into Greece.
Over 26,000 euros in cash were found in their homes (most of it in the house of one of them) as well as US dollars, Turkish lira and banknotes from Asian countries. The officers formed a “special control group” and carried out patrols along the Greek-Turkish border, always under the same composition.
Even in cases where the officers were absent from duty, for example due to sick leave, they made sure that they participated in the operations planned by the alleged ‘mastermind’ along the border.
Their alleged leader, a 54-year-old sergeant, was in contact with traffickers on Turkish territory. The latter informed him when and from which point of the border the migrants were to cross. He in turn informed his accomplices, while at the same time made sure that no Frontex or military personnel were near the crossing point.
The activities of the five border guards who were arrested by the Internal Affairs Service was allegedly a well-known secret among their colleagues. It’s not ruled out that their co-workers criticized their behavior and resented their ill-gotten wealth. The police investigators taped talks between border guards during the course of their investigation, and the information they gleaned from these recordings led them to believe that the border guards were angry that the alleged offenders were generating money illegally.
The conversations between the prosecuted officers show that they were looking for ways to hide the money they earned from their illegal activity.
All five appeared before a prosecutor on Tuesday.
