Greek authorities have started additional identity checks on migrants and refugees arriving at Piraeus Port after dismantling a ring that sold fake identity documents to migrants arriving on Lesvos island.
About 1,500 refugees who reached Piraeus Port on their way to Athens on Friday were subjected to beefed-up checks after disembarking from the Ariadni ferry. Several were taken aside and driven away in police buses for further checks in Athens.
The stricter identification checks followed the arrests on Lesvos late Thursday of about 10 people, including Afghan, Pakistani and Iraqi nationals, who allegedly sold forged police identity documents to newly arrived migrants.
Police said the forgers were charging 300-400 euros for each document, and is believed they had been selling up to 500 fake documents a day.
Migrants with forged documents would circumvent the official registration process, and buy ferry tickets for Piraeus without being registered by authorities on Lesvos – where most migrants crossing to Greece from Turkey arrive.
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