A factory owner and his former partner began prison sentences this week after a Greek court convicted them of running a criminal ring that held undocumented migrants captive to extort ransom from their families.
The Three-Member Criminal Court of Appeal in Thessaloniki sentenced the pair to a combined eight years in prison.
Both were taken directly to jail following the verdict.
The conviction stems from an August 2018 police raid in western Thessaloniki, triggered by a local resident's report of suspicious activity at the industrial site. Inside, officers discovered seven migrants locked in the facility.
According to the case file, the female defendant served as a guard, providing food and shelter while enforcing the migrants' confinement.
Her former partner, who owned the factory, denied the charges, testifying that he had been working on the Greek islands for an extended period and was unaware of the operations on his property.
Prosecutors identified three additional, unnamed suspects as accomplices in the scheme.
The ruling underscores Greece's ongoing judicial crackdown on smuggling networks that exploit the country’s position as a primary gateway for migration into the European Union.