New details are emerging about the major operation carried out by Greece’s Organized Crime Division in Mykonos, where police arrested six individuals suspected of running a drug trafficking network on the island known as the “Island of the Winds.” According to sources, the investigation centered on an Albanian-born man who relocated his operation from Athens to Mykonos. Police sources describe him as a known figure to authorities, having allegedly held a significant share of the premium drug market in the Attica region as well. Officers had been monitoring him for months, believing he was the mastermind pulling the strings of the criminal organization.
Mykonos: Luxury services for tourists used as cover
The alleged ringleader was operating on the island by offering high-end transportation services to tourists, ferrying them around in expensive vans. Alongside this legitimate-looking activity, drug deals were being conducted under the radar, away from prying eyes. It is worth noting that demand on the island surges considerably every year, particularly during the summer tourist season.
During the operation — which involved officers from the Drug Enforcement Sub-Directorate as well as OPKE special operations units of the Organized Crime Division — more than two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with quantities of pink cocaine, MDMA, ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, ketamine, and raw cannabis.
Drugs were found both at the main suspect’s residence in Athens and at stash locations across Mykonos. It should be noted that the investigation is still ongoing, and further arrests cannot be ruled out as authorities continue to inventory and catalogue all seized evidence.
Authorities believe the network was deliberately organized to flood Mykonos with large quantities of drugs ahead of the peak tourist season — a pattern that has become all too familiar. It is for this reason that police operations on the island have intensified significantly over at least the past three years.
