The 29 migrants who were spotted on Saturday in the sea area 16.5 nautical miles south of Gavdos have been transferred to a temporary accommodation facility of the Municipality of Rethymno, while according to an announcement by the Port Authority, a 43-year-old foreigner was also arrested as the trafficker of the migrants.

According to the announcement, “a port corps vessel located the boat and rounded up twenty-nine foreigners, who transferred to a lifeboat and were safely transported to the port of Agia Galini and from there, to a temporary accommodation facility of the Municipality of Rethymno.

According to the statement of the passengers, they had started in the morning hours on 30-12-2023, from a beach near the “KAMBUT” region of Libya, bound for Greece.

A 43-year-old man was arrested by the Port Authority of Rethymno, which is conducting the preliminary investigation, who was identified by the aforementioned foreigners as the trafficker of the vessel, for violating article 30 of Law 4251/2014 (Facilitation), article 83 of Law 3386/2005 ( Illegal entry and exit from the country), in combination with article 45 of the Criminal Code (Collusion) and article 306 of the Criminal Code. (Exposure of life at risk)’.

It is recalled that in the early hours of Saturday, another boat with 70 migrants was spotted on the beach of Corfu in Gavdos, coming from the coast of North Africa. The 70 rescued were transferred and remain in a reception area of ​​the Municipality of Chania, until the relevant procedures are completed.