Migrant trafficking gang busted

ATHENS: Greek police have dismantled a migrant trafficking network accused of abducting and torturing two people, the Athens News Agency reported on Sunday.

Police operations early on Saturday targeted four houses in the northern city of Thessaloniki, during which 13 foreigners aged 19 to 26 were arrested. A 20-year-old man believed to be the mastermind of a ring that allegedly transported migrants within Greece and abroad was among those detained.

According to police, the traffickers had transported 22 migrants between mid-March and mid-April. They also are accused of locking two migrants, aged 16 and 21, in a shed and demanding money from their families. One of the hostages alleged that a trafficker tried to rape him.