ISTANBUL/MADRID/ROME: Six migrants drowned while another 27 were rescued by the coastguard when their boat started sinking off the western coast of Turkiye, the interior minister said on Wednesday.

The incident took place before dawn just south of the seaside resort of Izmir in the waters separating the Turkish coast from the Greek island of Samos, which lies just 15 kilometres away.

`The bodies of six lifeless illegal immigrants were fished out of the water, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, adding that the coastguard had rescued 27 others, one of whom was detained on suspicion of smuggling.

Separately, another migrant incident in Spain followed probe as Spanish police arrested seven alleged people smugglers accused of killing eight migrants, including a baby, during a sea crossing from Senegal to the Canary Islands, authorities said on Wednesday.

The police said they began investigating after a vessel docked at the island of El Hierro in December with 224 people aboard, including some who had suffered serious injuries during an alercation on the boat. Migrants from the vessel said that another eight passengers `allegedly died at the hands of the captains who were detained,` the police statement added.

Among the victims was a 14-monthold Gambian baby travelling with his mother and uncle, as well as a 50-yearold Guinean man and his 18-year-old son. Police said they were still working to identify three of the deceased anddid not indicate if they had recovered the bodies.

The seven suspects were being held in pre-trial detention after their arrest on the island of Tenerife and on mainland Spain. Police in December arrested another seven suspected people smugglers accused of killing four migrants during a sea crossing in November from the coast of Gambia to El Hierro.

According to the probe, traffickers appointed to maintain order onboard the boat killed the migrants following complaints from the passengers over the conditions of the crossing.

Spain`s Canary Islands have seen a surge in arrivals due to their proximity to northwestern Africa and the tightening of patrols in the Mediterranean. A total of 46,843 migrants reached the Atlantic archipelago in 2024, breaking the annual record for the second year running.

At least 2,333 migrants disappearedor died in the Mediterranean last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Last month, seven migrants drowned in the same stretch of water. Shipwrecks are very common on the short but perilous route between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands of Samos, Rhodes and Lesbos that serve as entry points to the European Union.

Italy`s migrant sorting centre Italy`s Carabinieri police said on Wednesday, `twenty-seven people have been arrested in a pan-European raid against two drug trafficking groups, one of which used migrants as couriers.

The suspects were taken in for drug offences in Italy, Albania and Spain, the Carabinieri said, adding that 20 of them were remanded in custody and seven placed under house arrest. One group, led by Nigerians, used youngNigerian asylum seekers or refugees to transport marijuana across Italy and Europe, the police statement said.

A long-distance bus terminal near Rome`s Tiburtina train station was `used as a national and international sorting centre for drug trafficking`, it added.

The couriers had been recruited from a migrant reception centre on the outskirts of Rome used as a depot for drugs.

The second group, led by Albanians, was said to import marijuana to Italy, using fast boats across the Adriatic, to sell it on to Nigerian traffickers. Some of the Albanian suspects were also charged with aggravated extortion against Nigerian buyers who were late with their drug payments, police said.

Italy is one of the main entry points into Europe for sea migrants setting off from North Africa and Turkiye. It has registered almost 230,000 arrivals since the start of 2023.-Agencies