A yacht with 69 illegal migrants from Iraq was detained by the Romanian coastguard, reports TASS.
The Emek 1 boat sailed under the Turkish flag. It was detained by a Coast Guard patrol ship in Romanian territorial waters, about 10 nautical miles from the port of Mangalia.
The patrol ship received an alarm signal from the Black Sea Integrated Surveillance System (SCOMAR) for a suspicious craft directed toward the shore.
Despite the signal to the yacht, it continued to move. Subsequently, the Romanian Coast Guard found that there were a significant number of migrants on board. The patrol boat seized the yacht and escorted it to the port of inspection.
It is clear that a motor yacht was owned by two traffickers (Bulgarian and Cypriot), and there were 69 Iraqis on board – 30 men, 10 women and 29 minors. The investigation is ongoing, and it is yet to be clear where the migrants come from.
There is currently no confirmation from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on the information on the participation of a Bulgarian citizen in the scheme.