Car from Tallinn stopped in Helsinki port with six migrants hidden in trunk
Finnish border guards found six undocumented migrants in the trunk of a car that had arrived by ferry from Tallinn, and arrested the driver on suspicion of organizing illegal entry. Authorities link the case to a wider pattern of moving people who entered the Schengen area via Belarus onward across Europe.
Officers of the Finnish Border Guard inspecting a car that had arrived at the Helsinki port by ferry from Tallinn discovered six people hidden in the trunk who were attempting to enter Finland illegally, according to broadcaster Yle. Five of them were citizens of Eritrea, while one was a citizen of Morocco.
The vehicle arrived in Helsinki on Sunday, September 6. It was driven by a foreign national who was arrested by the Helsinki District Court on Wednesday, September 9, on suspicion of organizing illegal entry into the country.
Part of a broader pattern
According to the Border Guard, the case fits into a wider phenomenon in which people who entered the Schengen area illegally through Belarus are subsequently transported through various countries to other parts of Europe. This suggests that ferry routes across the Baltic Sea are being used as one link in such smuggling chains.
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