Thessaloniki: Eight Roma and 1 Pakistani arrested for holding Moroccans hostage

Eight Roma and one Pakistani were arrested in Thessaloniki for holding seven Moroccans hostage, beating them and then demanding money to release them.

Seven illegal migrants from Morocco were held hostage in an abandoned building near the Roma settlement of Agia Sophia in Thessaloniki by eight Roma and one Pakistani, who beat them while filming their actions and demanding money to release them.

The nine men, gang members, were arrested following a police operation in Diavata, Thessaloniki.

According to Law&Order, the seven Moroccans were for two days in an abandoned building near Agia Sophia, where the gang members used physical violence against them and sent videos to the victims family's to demand a 2,000 euros ransom for each illegal immigrant.

The prosecution authorities began investigating the case when a relative of the victim received a video on his mobile phone and called 112, the European emergency number. Police officers tracked down the perpetrators, freed the hostages and arrested the perpetrators, eight Greek citizens, all Roma, and one Pakistani.

As the police investigation revealed, the seven Moroccans arrived in Greece by first crossing the Evros River from Turkey with the help of a smuggler and then paying a human trafficking gang on the opposite side of the river.

They then walked to Rodopi, where they were picked up by gang members and taken by car to Thessaloniki. Two of them appear to have travelled in the trunk of the vehicle.

Reports indicate that the gang had taken steps to avoid any police checks along the route by using another vehicle as an escort. They were then led to the abandoned building.

The arrested were taken to the criminal prosecution prosecutor, who charged them with criminal charges, including human trafficking, kidnapping, dangerous bodily harm, robbery, attempted extortion, personal data breach, and gang membership.

They were referred to an investigator to testify and remain in custody.

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