Officers of the Coast Guard arrested four members of an international criminal organization involved in importing large quantities of drugs from Latin America. Specifically, in an operation conducted on Tuesday (27/01) in areas of Attica and Alexandroupoli, four men aged 57, 59, 52 and 56 years old were arrested.
Read: Coast Guard busts major drug trafficking ring: Two arrests and seizures of 900,000 euros in Patras and Athens (Video)
It is worth noting that the investigation began in 2023 following information from the collaborating U.S. Embassy service in Athens (H.S.I. – Homeland Security Investigations) after the discovery and seizure of 5,040 kilograms of cocaine at the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador on August 9, 2023. This quantity was discovered by local law enforcement authorities inside a shipping container with legal cargo of fish meal, having been mixed in powder form with the merchandise to make detection difficult in case of inspection.
Economic benefit estimated at tens of millions of euros
According to authorities, recovering the cocaine would require complex chemical processes and specialized scientific knowledge, demonstrating the high level of organization of the trafficking ring. The expected economic benefit from distributing the drugs on the illegal market is estimated at tens of millions of euros.
Criminal charges were filed against the arrested individuals for violations of law 4139/2013 regarding addictive substances and article 187 of the Penal Code regarding criminal organization. The operation was conducted with assistance from the Regional Drug Enforcement Units (P.O.DI.N.) of the Central Port Authorities of Piraeus and Alexandroupoli, as well as support from the Coast Guard’s Aerial Means Service.
