Greece arrests 2 for smuggling migrants onto wildfire-ravaged island

Greek authorities have arrested two people for allegedly smuggling 35 migrants across the Aegean Sea, using an unusual itinerary that brought them to a wildfire-afflicted island close to the mainland.

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The coast guard said the two men were stopped off the island of Evia late Tuesday on a 45-foot speedboat heading east in the direction of Turkey, from where they are believed to have departed.

Greek authorities have arrested two men in a bizarre migrant-smuggling scheme. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Shortly afterward, the 35 migrants were found on a beach in the vicinity of Kymi, a town in central Evia, the coast guard said in a statement. The island has been hit by wildfires in recent days, and on Tuesday a water-dropping plane crashed there while fighting a blaze, killing both pilots.

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Greece remains a major entry point for people fleeing conflict or hardship in the Middle East and Africa for a better life in the European Union.

For years, most were smuggled in small boats from the Turkish coast to Greece’s nearby eastern Aegean islands, but intense patrolling has made that route less popular. Instead, smugglers have increasingly been sending sailboats crammed with people that cross the central and southern Aegean, round the southern tip of Greece and continue to Italy.