Police bust human smuggler after chase

Police have arrested a 39-year-old man on charges of human trafficking after a vehicle chase along Egnatia Odos highway in northern Greece.

Officials tried to stop the van after it drove through the Analipsi toll station, near Thessaloniki. The 39-year-old driver refused to stop, leading to a police chase for several kilometers.

Police finally managed to stop the vehicle near the Thessaloniki suburb of Stavroupoli. After a search, officers found a group of 25 undocumented migrants hidden in the back of the van. There were no reports of injuries.

The migrants, said to be from Syria, Iraq and the Palestianian authority, admitted they had paid 1,900 euros each to the trafficker, and entered Greece through the border with Turkey.