350 migrants heading to Europe captured in southern Turkey

MERSİN – Anadolu Agency

Police have also seized the inflatable boats used to carry the migrants to the ship were seized.

The Turkish Coast Guard has captured 350 migrants, a majority of them Syrian nationals, as part of a raid operation on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea heading to Italy. 

The Coast Guard captured 71 migrants on board the ship at the Bozyazı port in the southern province of Mersin, while also capturing 271 migrants at the port waiting to board the ship. 

Turkish security forces learned the migrants had started to board the Mongolian-flagged ship named “Ole” at night April 25. Gendarmerie forces and the Coast Guard jointly began a raid on the ship and port early April 26. 

Ten of the ship’s crew were also detained, while the inflatable boats used to carry the migrants to the ship were seized.