Traffickers were arrested in Kipi. Life sentences for the three Ukrainians

A case involving the smuggling of undocumented immigrants and refugees, with international implications, was heard by the Komotini courts on Wednesday, September 22, as reported by the XRONOS.GR and journalist Dionysis Vorgias. Specifically, three Ukrainian migrant smugglers, who were arrested in Kipoi, Evros, stood trial before the Three-Member Court of Appeals for Felonies of Thrace.

This case, however, was not one of the usual ones that keep local authorities busy and fill the city’s courts—that is… a «simple» smuggling operation involving a car that was stopped in Rodopi, but one that involves over 100 migrants, three countries, a tourist boat, an underground criminal organization, a «fee» of at least 300,000$, and a serious allegation regarding the actions of the Turkish authorities.

The case was revealed on Radio Chronos 87.5 FM and to Mayor Bakirtzakis by Dimitris Milioglou, the attorney for the three Ukrainians.

https://soundcloud.com/87-5fm/miliogloy-dimitris-dikigoros

They sailed… halfway across the Mediterranean

Describing the journey of the smugglers and those being smuggled, the lawyer said: «This was a group of people who apparently had a basic level of organization. The group consisted of Ukrainians, Moldovans, Turks, and even someone from Bangladesh. This group had organized the smuggling of migrants and refugees, 104 people, from the coast of Turkey—specifically from the port of Marina in the well-known town of Marmarid—on a sailboat, which, it should be noted, after sailing 10 kilometers, approached a Turkish tourist boat in the open sea within Turkish territorial waters and transferred the 104 migrants and refugees (of Iraqi, Syrian, and other nationalities). The Turkish tourist boat, captained by three Ukrainian citizens, attempted to smuggle them to Italy. To this end, it had deactivated its automatic identification system so that it could not be detected by other vessels.».

The voyage to Italy lasted 12 days, and the ship passed… unnoticed through the Dodecanese, northern Crete, the Kythira Strait, crossed the entire Ionian Sea, and docked on the coast of the city of Locri in Italy.

The migrants were arrested, but the smugglers continued

In Italy, migrants and smugglers made their way toward the city of Bari. When they split up, 104 migrants were arrested by Italian authorities, while the smugglers were not located and continued on their way to Igoumenitsa. There, they boarded a KTEL bus to Thessaloniki and then a second KTEL bus to Alexandroupoli. They then attempted to leave Greece for Turkey via Kipoi, in an effort to return to Ukraine.

«They had their passports. However, when they arrived at Kipoi on the Greek-Turkish border, their passports did not bear the entry stamp for Greece. Nor did they have the Italian government’s stamp in their passports,» the lawyer stated, recounting what happened at the border: «Apparently having been abandoned by the group that had been guiding them at the start, they showed up at the Kipoi Customs Office in Alexandroupoli, where Greek customs authorities immediately detected the omission. When questioned, they answered truthfully and even showed their cell phones, which they were using as GPS devices, to show the route they had taken on the ship, which they had been sharing with the leaders of the migrant smuggling ring.».

«Tarifa» 300.000$

In fact, Dimitris Miloglou describes the three Ukrainians as «the victims of this whole affair,» since they were the ones who earned the least and bore the greatest risk from the trafficking, were not the masterminds behind the ring, and appeared to have been abandoned by the organization.

The arrest of the Ukrainians was followed by a thorough investigation by the Hellenic Police (ELAS), which proved that this was a major migrant smuggling operation. The Ukrainians confessed to the authorities, and according to what the traffickers told the Hellenic Police, the «fee» for transport from Turkey Italy was 3,000$ per migrant, amounting to more than 300,000$ in total!

Life sentences for the Ukrainians

The Three-Member Thrace Court of Appeals for Felonies tried the three Ukrainians in the first instance. «Each was sentenced to 222 years and 4 months in prison and a fine of 10,501,000 euros. However, according to the Greek Penal Code, the number of years they are required to serve is 20 years,» the lawyer stated. In essence, they can be released even after serving three-fifths of their sentence—that is, 12 years—while it is considered certain that the fine will never be paid.

What really caught the court’s attention was that, although the defendants confessed to their crime when they were arrested, they denied all charges during the trial. Accordingly, they filed an appeal, claiming they had no involvement in the trafficking. «In my opinion, they were intimidated into not continuing to speak out, but they had already done the “damage” to the organization,» the lawyer assessed.

The Turkish authorities turning a blind eye

Apart from the legal aspect of the case, once again the… ingenuity of international human trafficking rings comes to the fore; through well-orchestrated «operations,» with technology as their ally—and even by bribing authorities—they attempt to achieve their goals.

Speaking generally about migration, Dimitris Milioglou said: «The transport of migrants from Turkey to Greece and other EU countries must be addressed at its source, that is, in Turkey,» He also made a very serious allegation, citing statements made by the smugglers to the Greek authorities: «When the sailboat set sail from the Marmaridos marina, according to the Greek authorities, the leader of the organization had approached the Turkish authorities and likely bribed them in order to avoid a Turkish inspection of the sailboat. »If the Turkish authorities had conducted a proper inspection, they would have been arrested immediately, as the authorities were required to do.”.