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Greek border guards in a checkpoint on the Greek-Turkish border river Evros
Photograph:
Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto / IMAGO
The Greek police have arrested five of their own border policemen who are said to have been involved in a large smuggling ring. The five men, in close cooperation with other members of the smuggling gang living in Turkey, did not stop the crossing of migrants from the neighboring country across the border river Evros in at least twelve cases.
According to the Ministry of Citizen Protection in Athens, large sums of cash were seized in the homes of the border police. According to the information, there is one officer and four non-commissioned officers.
How many migrants have crossed the border into the EU remained unclear at first. According to official figures, the Greek border guard prevented about 256,000 migrants from crossing this border river last year.
jso/dpa