ATHENS, Sept 28: Greek police said on Thursday that they had found 87, mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi, illegal immigrants who were being held captive by their traffickers in a warehouse near Athens.

The immigrants, who had been brought into the country across the border with Turkey a week ago, were kept, with only a small amount of bread and water, in the warehouse in Aspropyrgos, 30km west of Athens, a police statement said.

Police arrested six suspected traffickers and were hunting for a seventh, the statement said.

After being brought across the border, the immigrants had been brought by coach to Athens.

They were then shut in the warehouse, which belonged to one of the traffickers, in a bid to pressure the immigrants’ families to pay the costs of passage, which ranges from 3,000 to 10,500 euros.—AFP