Turkey raids ship with 276 illegal migrants on board

Turkish authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle 276 migrants to Europe on board a ship, and detained eight suspected smugglers, Report says, citing Anadolu. 

Acting on a tipoff, police and coast guard teams carried out an operation on the ship that docked near the coast of Narlidere, close to the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, Anadolu Agency reported. The boat was preparing to sail with the 276 migrants, including 46 women and 59 children.

The migrants were from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Somalia, and Iran.

It wasn’t immediately known where the ship’s destination was. But Turkey, which hosts about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, is the main crossing point for migrants trying to reach Europe via Greek islands across Turkey’s Aegean coast. Others also try to sneak into Greece across a river along the border.