Turkey captures 122 migrants inside vehicles
YALOVA / İZMİR
DHA Photo
Turkish gendarmerie forces have captured a total of 122 migrants inside vehicles in two different incidents on May 11.Yalova Gendarmerie Forces captured 35 Afghans while on a daily patrol of the Yalova-Bursa road, after they stopped a suspected vehicle with a license plate number of 34, which is the official plate number for Istanbul, Doğan News Agency reported.
Among the Afghans who planned to cross into Greece via sea, there were three women and two children.
The Afghans allegedly planned to board a vessel at Mudanya, located in the coastal province of Bursa, to sail to Greece. Gendarmerie forces also found 20 life vests in their search of the vehicle.
The truck’s driver has been arrested, while the Afghans will be deported following legal procedures.
Meanwhile, 87 Syrian migrants were captured in the Dikili district of the Aegean province of İzmir in a joint operation with the İzmir Gendarmerie Commandership’s Organized Crime and Trafficking Directorate and Dikili Gendarmerie Forces, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Some 83 migrants were captured in a truck in the Bahçeli neighborhood of Dikili, while the other four migrants were caught in a taxi.
Some $8,000, which was thought to be begotten from human trafficking, was found in a separate truck that was determined to have dropped off two boats and a boat engine.
Five suspects were arrested over charges of organizing human trafficking activities.
Turkey has seen a rise since last week in migrants attempting to use the country as a transition point to cross into European countries. A total of 239 migrants were captured in Turkey’s western provinces over the weekend, including a number of migrants rescued from sunken inflatable boats in the Aegean Sea.
