[AP]
A total 79 migrants reached the southern island of Gavdos in a small vessel from northern Africa on Sunday and two of them have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to a migrant smuggling gang, authorities said Monday.
The coast guard said the two men were from South Somalia, aged 23 and 19, and had been allegedly paid to steer the vessel to Gavdos, off the southern coast of Crete, from Tobruk in eastern Libya.
The long, and dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean from Tobruk to Gavdos or Crete has become an increasingly popular route for migrant-smuggling gangs.
Almost 49,000 people entered Greece illegally in 2025, according to United Nations data. Nearly 42,000 came by sea – about half of them sailing from Libya – and the rest crossed the northeastern land border with Turkey.