Over 500 Migrants Rescued Off Southern Crete, Smugglers Arrested

Authorities have reported a significant increase in migrant arrivals off the southern coast of Crete, with triple-digit detections occurring daily.

Over the weekend alone, coordinated operations by the Hellenic Coast Guard led to the rescue of 508 migrants

and the arrest of four individuals on smuggling charges.
On Saturday, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center alerted authorities to two vessels spotted south of Kaloi Limenes.
A Coast Guard patrol vessel located two wooden boats southwest of Gavdos Island, rescuing 111 people, including one woman and a minor.
Later that day, a separate inflatable vessel carrying 51 migrants, including 13 minors, was intercepted 22 nautical miles off Kaloi Limenes.

Two Sudanese nationals, aged 18 and 27, were identified as smugglers and taken into custody. The remaining passengers were transferred to the Malakasa Reception and Identification Center (KYT).
In a separate operation on Dyskos Beach in the municipality of Gortyna, 53 migrants, among them five minors, landed ashore. A 24-year-old Sudanese man was arrested as a smuggler, and the boat used in the crossing was seized.
Last week, authorities rescued 114 migrants from two boats south of Gavdos. Two Sudanese nationals, aged 43 and 19, were identified as smugglers.
That same day, 107 migrants were found on Trypiti Beach in Gavdos, where a 19-year-old Sudanese national was apprehended as the alleged smuggler.
Additionally, a wooden boat carrying 72 migrants was spotted near the Karave port of Gavdos; those migrants were safely transported to the Sfakia region, and no arrests were made in that incident.

The Central Port Authorities of Chania and Heraklion are conducting preliminary investigations. Authorities are examining possible links between the arrested smugglers and larger human trafficking networks operating in the region.
The recent surge in migrant arrivals underscores the growing challenges faced by Greek authorities in managing irregular migration routes in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the maritime corridor south of Crete.

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Over 500 Migrants Rescued Off Southern Crete Smugglers Arrested,