The five police officers who were arrested by the Internal Affairs Division of the Security Forces of Northern Greece in Evros as part of a police operation carried out on Monday, on charges of facilitating the entry into the country of irregular migrants from Turkey through contacts they had with a network in the neighboring country.
They are a sergeant and four senior guards, all of whom came from and were promoted within the Border Guard Service and are currently serving at the Didymoteicho Border Guard Station.
The «Incorruptibles» unit of the Hellenic Police has filed charges against the five police officers for the offenses of bribery of a public official, abuse of authority, dereliction of duty, and violation of the Immigration and Social Integration Code.
The investigation also revealed the involvement of four additional foreign nationals residing outside Greek territory, specifically in Turkey.
As announced by the Ministry of Citizen Protection, the investigation so far has revealed that police officers, at least since October 2022, have been in contact with criminal networks operating in Turkey, are alleged to have committed acts or omissions intended to facilitate the entry of third-country nationals into our country.
A comprehensive analysis of the collected evidence it emerged that, in at least 12 cases, the defendants facilitated the illegal entry into Greek territory of an unknown number of third-country nationals, turning a blind eye when they received a signal from members of the ring regarding such movements.
It should be noted that, as part of the investigation, the police officers« phone calls were monitored; however, according to information from the Hellenic Police, the recordings did not reveal the payments they received for these »favors.”.
However, during searches conducted at their homes, significant sums of money in various currencies and other evidence were found and seized, specifically:
26,550 euros,
59 cell phones,
12 power banks,
$2,120,
850 Turkish lira,
23 British pounds,
77 Romanian lei,
a large number of banknotes from Asian countries and
bank card.
