The dance of arrests continues in relation to the criminal organization that trafficked irregular migrants to the Republic of Cyprus, with the ICF of Operations of the Crime Fighting Department of the Headquarters proceeding to the arrest of another 31-year-old Syrian.

Six other people are wanted in the case, including a 49-year-old man who is believed to be the mastermind of the migrant smuggling ring from Syria to Cyprus via Turkey.

According to "F", he is a 49-year-old Syrian who appears to reside in the Syrian city of Idlib and is alleged to be the head of one of the three networks that smuggle migrants to Cyprus. In fact, until recently, the person in question advertised his action on his social media account.

The activity of the ring seems to begin in the year 2019, with the 49-year-old working with his three brothers who reside in Cyprus. In particular, these persons – two of whom are wanted – identified Syrian nationals in Cyprus who wanted to illegally bring their relatives who were in Syria to the Republic. They then made trips to Beirut to transfer sums of money they received from Syrians.

The investigators of the ICF Headquarters handcuffed a 31-year-old Syrian, who was brought before the Limassol District Court yesterday when his detention for two days was approved in order to comply with the expiration of the 8-day detention order of the other five suspects.

According to "F", the 31-year-old suspect was arrested with a court warrant the day before yesterday upon entering the Republic. He and the other five suspects are being investigated for the offences of conspiracy to commit a felony, misdemeanor, participation in a criminal organisation, participation in and acceptance of the commission of crimes, offences in violation of the Aliens Act, facilitation of illegal entry, trafficking of adult persons and the offence of money laundering. In fact, the examinations show that the suspect, from February 2022 until today, traveled to Beirut eight times while in Cyprus since 2017 under the subsidiary protection regime.

This criminal group is, according to F's information, one of the three active in the smuggling of migrants from Syria to Cyprus via Turkey. According to information held by the authorities, the majority of migrants brought to Cyprus by this criminal group originate from Syria's Idlib province or were travelling there from other areas. Their entry from Syria into the territory of Turkey is from the village of Harem, in the village of Reyhanli. Once in Reyhanli, migrants are first transferred to Adana and continue their journey to Alanya or Mersin or Istanbul.

The criminal group, however, reportedly has three shelters, two in Alanya and one in Mersin. Based on the same information, these spaces are allegedly managed by associates of the group. In fact, they are transported from the city of Mersin to the occupied areas in containers, which migrants abandon as soon as they are loaded onto trucks and leave the occupied ports. Then, a taxi driver awaits them and takes them to areas under the supervision of the United Nations and there they arrive in the free areas.

In relation to the transfer of migrants from the town of Alanya to the occupied areas, this is done by speedboat driven by Syrian collaborators of the ring. When the boat reaches the occupied areas, Turkish collaborators pick up the migrants and drive them in private vehicles to areas under United Nations supervision. For each irregular migrant, the criminal group receives a reward of between €3,000 and €4,000.