Five police officers from the border control department of Didimotiho were prosecuted for smuggling migrants across the Greek-Turkish border in Evros. These are four constables and a non-constable detained yesterday by the Internal Affairs Service. They are accused of facilitating the entry of migrants into Greece via Evros in consultation with traffickers located on Turkish territory.

The internal affairs investigation began in January 2023, and sworn police action is estimated to have started as early as October last year. The leading role is assigned to the 54-year-old constable. It is alleged that, according to the preliminary investigation, he recruited his other four persecuted colleagues.

Yesterday, a surprise search was carried out at the homes of the five detainees, during which 26,550 euros in cash, 2,120 US dollars, 850 Turkish liras and a number of banknotes from various Asian countries were found and confiscated.

Most of the money was found in the house of one of the arrested. The police also found 59 mobile phones in their pursued colleagues.

As part of a secret investigation, the “corrupt officials” began to decrypt the mobile phones of their colleagues from the police, and also used video and audio recording devices. Intercepted conversations between the suspects emerged, strongly suggesting that they were involved in 12 cases of illegal immigration, with the number of foreigners who entered the country with the help of the police, allegedly much higher.

In conversations between them, words and phrases such as “see our dowry again” or “not lose the suitcase” can be heard, while the handlers of the case note that these references refer to financial compensation for their services. There is even a recorded conversation in which they express concern about the justification for having money, saying that “it should be shown in ‘pothen esches'”.

The duties of those arrested included patrolling the border. In other words, they formed a permanent group to prosecute illegal immigration, which was reportedly known among their peers as the “fat team”. So it is alleged that they sought to serve together along the border line.

After consulting with traffickers in Turkey, they removed army and Frontex officers from certain sections of the border under their control, thereby allowing irregular immigrants to enter Greece.

They urged some of their colleagues not to use thermal imaging cameras to monitor the border, telling them they were in control of the area. From the contents of the recorded conversations between them, it is not precisely determined the amount they received for their services, but there is evidence that speaks of a fee of 1,000 euros for each immigrant. The traffickers with whom they negotiated are estimated to be Turkish citizens. A police officer involved in the investigation reported that they spoke in broken Greek. During the investigation, they were not identified.