The latest instance of a suspected migrant smuggler driving in the opposite direction along the Egnatia motorway in northern Greece occurred on Monday, with video footage widely disseminated on social media showing a speeding car breaking through the toll barrier at the Asprovalta station and speeding west towards Thessaloniki, onto oncoming traffic.

The incident is not the first time that a migrant smuggler has used the same method to avoid police roadblocks, often times with fatal results, including the death of unsuspecting motorists.

Witnesses who spoke with local media on Monday said authorities failed to adequately install as “spike strip” at the toll station, which shreds the tires of ongoing vehicles as part of attempts to end a car chase.

Smugglers often pick up third-country nationals that sneak into Greece from Turkish territory along the Evros (Maritsa) River, which separates the two countries in the Thrace province. The foreign nationals are then ferried into the interior before other smugglers attempt to transport them to preferred destinations in central and western Europe.

On many occasions, authorities have arrested juveniles, themselves illegal migrants, driving such vehicles, with the latter often stolen by other members of the criminal ring.

Egnatia Odos is a major tollway running across the breadth of northern Greece, from the land border with Turkey, on the east, to the port city of Igoumenitsa, on the Ionian Sea coast.