A Greek Coast Guard vessel fired warning shots and ultimately arrested an 18-year-old smuggler off the island of Samos in the eastern Aegean Sea.
According to the Port authority central, the Coast Guard patrol vessel spotted the high-speed boat in the sea off Cape Prassos on Samos. The smuggler refused to comply with the Cost Guard instructions. After the vessel fired warning shots, the smuggler stopped the boat and he was arrested.
Earlier, the smuggler had brought 10 migrants to the area of Prassos. He was identified by the boat passengers who had illegally come from Turkey.
The migrants were taken to Vathi and the speedboat was seized by the Samos Port Authority that investigates the issue before the Afghan smuggler goes to trial.
Meanwhile, In a Search And Rescue operation, 25 migrants on a boat were spotted in the sea off Kardamyla in the north of the island of Chios early morning Saturday. The passengers were transferred to the port of Chios.
Greece has seen a sharp increase of refugees and migrants arrivals in the last weeks. During the summer months an increase of 114% was recorded when compared to summer 2018.
In the last 24 hours alone, a total of 480 refugees and migrants arrived on the Greek islands/
Turkey has been threatening to open the gates and flood Greece and Europe with migrants, if it does not get the support it need for its 3.6 million refugees by the European Union.
