In Brief
HUMAN TRAFFICKERS
Six arrested after 10 migrants freed from shipping container Police said yesterday that they have arrested six people alleged to have been part of a human-trafficking ring that kept 10 migrants locked in a shipping container in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, for about a month during which they were mistreated by their captors who demanded more money from them. The illegal immigrants (eight Pakistanis, a Somali and a Syrian) had each paid 7,000 euros to be smuggled to Greece but on their arrival in the country, they were allegedly locked in the container by the suspects (three Greeks, two Pakistanis and an Indian) who demanded they each pay another 4,000 euros to be released. GLYFADA SKIMMING Two caught for targeting ATMs Two men aged 25 and 27 have been arrested in the southeastern Athens suburb of Glyfada on suspicion of placing devices at ATMs in the area which allowed them to copy the details of bank customers’ cards. Police said on Saturday that they found a range of high-tech equipment at the men’s home, which they suspect was used for «skimming,» when a device is placed over the cash machine’s slot so it can read the card’s magnetic strip while a pinhole camera is used to read the customer’s PIN. It is not clear how much money the two suspects, both foreign nationals, are alleged to have stolen using this method. Lucky escape Four people survived a 200-meter fall on Saturday when their car plunged off a mountain road in Ypati central Greece. Rescue workers found the vehicle at about 9 p.m. and indicated that its occupants had not suffered life-threatening injuries. Guns a’blazing Two men were admitted to hospital on Crete with gunshot wounds on Sunday after an argument outside a bar in the village of Kavro, near Hania. It is not clear what sparked the row but witnesses said both men, aged 27 and 33, pulled out handguns and fired at each other. One was shot in the stomach, the other in the arm. In Athens, a 25-year-old man was admitted to hospital after being shot in the chest during an argument over a woman in the northern suburb of Acharnes. Shepherd drowns A 27-year-old shepherd was found dead in an irrigation channel in the Chrysoupoli area of Kavala, northern Greece, on Saturday. Police believe that the Bulgarian national drowned while trying to rescue a sheep that had fallen into the ditch. He was not named. Vyronas pimp A 24-year-old man has been arrested in the eastern Athens suburb of Vyronas on suspicion of holding a 22-year-old woman against her will with the aim of procuring her. According to a police statement released on Saturday, the unnamed man allegedly paid 2,000 euros to an unidentified third party so that he could «purchase» the woman and force her into prostitution. Both the suspect and victim are foreign nationals. Errant serpent The fire service in Trikala, central Greece, had to answer an unusual call on Friday when residents reported that a 3-meter python was on the loose in the city center. Firefighters eventually caught the snake and placed it in a special bag before handing it over to municipal authorities.
