The police in Cyprus have arrested 5 people on alleged trafficking charges after their patrol boat intercepted both with another 32 people from a boat which sank near the southernmost section of the island nation.
The five men – all Syrian nationals between the ages of 46 to 53 are currently facing multiple charges, which include helping people enter illegally to gain financially, and endangering their lives by knowingly transporting them on an unsafe vehicle.
According to Christos Andreou, a spokesman for the Cyprus police, over 37 Syrian nationals, including 7 children, have been picked up from the sea.
All of the five men were arrested almost immediately upon arrival after multiple witnesses claimed them to be “in charge” of the transport.
The police later found one of those five men to have earlier been deported from the country, making him an illegal resident as well.
