The authorities in Greece say they found more than two-hundred-and-fifty Iraqi Kurds on board a small fishing boat they intercepted on Wednesday off the island of Crete.

The ship's captain and another crew member were detained and face prosecution.

Reports say the ship sailed from a port in Lebanon or Syria and that the Kurds each paid three-thousand dollars for the trip.

Greece is one of the main points of entry for illegal immigrants into the European Union.