Smugglers throwing migrants off speedboats in Aegean Sea to avoid arrest, says Greek coast guard

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Smugglers ferrying migrants from Turkey to Greece’s eastern islands have in two cases adopted the new and dangerous tactic of knocking some passengers off their speedboats into the sea to avoid capture by pursuing coast guards, Greek authorities say.

All eight migrants were rescued in both cases, which occurred over the weekend. The incidents come as smugglers using speedboats, instead of the flimsy inflatable dinghies with small engines they favored for years, adopt increasingly aggressive tactics to dodge Greek marine patrols.

Last week, coast guards opened fire, killing one migrant, after a speedboat allegedly rammed their vessel in the eastern Aegean Sea during a chase.

The Greek coast guard said Tuesday that in one case over the weekend a Palestinian and an Afghan man piloting a speedboat also tried to ram a pursuing patrol boat off the island of Kos. It said they then allegedly forced five passengers to jump into the sea, escaping towards the island as the coast guards stopped to rescue the migrants.

Thirty migrants from the boat were later located on land, while the two suspected smugglers were arrested.

In a second incident off the island of Symi, three migrants were forced off the smuggling boat in mid-chase, the Greek coast guard said. That allowed the smugglers to return to Turkish waters with their remaining passengers, who were picked up by the Turkish coast guard.

The three migrants rescued in Greek waters said they had paid $4.500 each to be ferried across, according to a Greek coast guard statement.

Smuggling gangs have adapted in recent months to deal with Greece’s tight policing of eastern Aegean waters. Apart from aggressive use of high-powered speedboats, they have also followed new routes through the central Aegean, while there has been an increase in migrants making the much longer journey from Libya to the southern Greek island of Crete.

Separately Tuesday, the Greek coast guard said that a total of 42 people in two speedboats crossed from Turkey to the eastern island of Leros in the past 24 hours Two suspected smugglers were arrested among the migrants on land, while a third was taken into custody at sea following a chase, a coast guard statement said.

According to data from the United Nations refugee agency, about 31,500 migrants have arrived illegally in Greece so far this year. That’s slightly fewer than the numbers reaching Italy and Spain, the main gateways for people trying to enter Europe illegally.

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