Smuggling Blamed on Gangs in Turkey, Iraq
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Criminal gangs operating in Turkey and Iraq were behind the smuggling of 910 Iraqi Kurds who landed near the French Riviera after a weeklong journey in a decrepit freighter without toilets or provisions, authorities said.
“We know the captain’s name. Police are working with Interpol to find him and the shipowner,” said Daniel Chaze, deputy central director of the French border police.
France was caught off guard when the freighter, whose human cargo included 480 children, ran aground near Frejus. Early Sunday morning, the East Sea filled with seawater and sank as it was being tugged to a harbor in the port of Toulon.
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