11 people detained for human trafficking in Turkey’s northwest

The Gendarmerie detained 11 people for organizing trafficking activities for individuals who have crossed the border to Turkey illegally and aim to reach Europe. Cell phones, money in various currencies, unregistered guns and a notebook, in which money collected from the fugitives was noted down, were seized during the raids on the suspects’ homes. 

While nine people were detained in Kırklareli, two people were detained in the neighboring province of Edirne. 
The Kırklareli Gendarmerie has been monitoring a network of human smugglers illegally taking fugitives to cross over into the European Union. 

A total of 146 people trying to reach Europe through the network have been caught over the past two months. Of these 146 fugitives, 126 were from Syria, 10 were from Afghanistan, five were from Burma and five were from Pakistan. 

Police raids across Greece in mid-March smashed an international people trafficking ring that was making $8 million in profit from smuggling Syrian migrants via maritime routes from Turkey to Greece, Europol said in a written statement. 

Police staged 20 raids across Greece, arresting 16 suspects - including Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian and Romanian nationals - and seizing 280 passports, dozens of mobile phones, computers, vehicles and 64,000 euros ($68,000) in cash.