THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Police in northern Greece say they have arrested two Greek women suspected of trying to smuggle a group of Syrian refugees over the rugged border with Albania.

The suspects were discovered early Tuesday, driving two cars carrying a total of 18 Syrians, including six children, to the border in the northern Kastoria region.

Police said the refugees had been planning to continue their journey from Albania toward an unspecified northern European country.

About 60,000 refugees and other migrants have been trapped in Greece following a series of Balkan border closures earlier this year. All entered from Turkey, and had initially planned to transit the financially struggling country on their way to Europe's prosperous heartland.

Many pay gangs to smuggle them northward through Macedonia or Bulgaria, with Albania a rarer option.