KOMOTINI (Greece), July 29: Greek police on Monday detained 97 illegal immigrants caught trying to sneak into the country via Turkey along with two Bulgarian suspected people-smugglers.

The group — 22 Pakistanis, 70 Iraqis, four Bangladeshis and one Palestinian — crossed into Greece on Sunday on a small boat sailing across the Evros river, which marks Greece’s northeastern border with Turkey.

Police said they arrested Bulgarians Ivan Petro, 44, and Ivan Vousov, 54, during a road check between the border towns of Soufli and Alexandroupolos as they were attempting to drive the immigrants to Athens aboard a truck.

The two men would appear before a public prosecutor, while the immigrants would be sent back to Turkey, police said.

Athens has criticized Ankara for failing to stop illegal immigration across their shared land border amid regular detentions of immigrants seeking to sneak across Greece into other western Europe countries.—AFP