More than 300 kilos of cocaine were found in the past few days, in two successive operations in the port of Piraeus, the DEA officers have managed to strike a powerful blow to the drug cartels operating in our country.

Behind the first cargo weighing 210 kilos, which was found in a container that had left Panama and was destined for Albania, was a multi-member drug ring with a 48-year-old Albanian with a heavy criminal past as its “mastermind”.

The 48 year old’s direct associate was a 36 year old from Albania, while two Greeks were also members of the group, one of them being in charge of communication with other members of the criminal organisation based abroad, and the second one providing operational cover and protection for the ‘leader’, taking appropriate counter-protection measures to avoid his arrest.

Both the “leader” and one of his two Greek associates had been previously implicated by both Greek and foreign authorities for serious offences.

In particular, the alleged “leader”, who allegedly owns a business in the neighbouring country with tour buses and luxury cars, had begun to concern the Greek authorities as early as 2017 when he was accused by the S.D.O.E., without being arrested, of financing a laboratory for the production of synthetic drug tablets.

The 48-year-old Albanian ring leader

He had set up the laboratory in a detached house in Nea Peramos for the purpose of producing “Captagon” pills, also known as the jihadist drug. At the time, the authorities had seized 634,246 tablets. In fact, for the case in question, there is a pending court decision of the Athens Court of Appeals for Criminal Matters, which imposed a 20-year sentence and a fine of 100,000 euros.

At the same time, the 48 year old had also concerned the authorities of Turkey as he had been arrested for heroin trafficking, while he allegedly owns a business in Albania with tourist buses and luxury cars. Specifically, as reported by the website himara.gr, the accused was arrested in September 2009 in Fatih, Istanbul, with 10 kilos of heroin and 3 kilos of marijuana. Just three months after his release, the 48-year-old continued selling drugs.

The heroin seized during his arrest, together with seven other persons (including a woman), was destined for Albania. His activity in Turkey was not limited there, as his brother-in-law was arrested in 2009 with 22 kg of heroin in an attempt to smuggle it into Greece.

Pablo and extradition to the USA

In addition to the “leader”, one of the two Greeks, known by the nickname “Pablo”, also has a record of illegal activity.

According to information, “Pablo”, a US citizen, was the “eyes” of the cartel in question in Latin America, where he had developed… rich activities after being caught trafficking arms. The 64-year-old had been arrested in Panama in August 2012 for attempting to support a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

The 64-year-old Greek man, known to US authorities as “Pablo”

In 2014, “Pablo” was extradited to the US and pleaded guilty before a US District Judge in December 2013 for attempting to provide material support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Court documents revealed at the time that “Pablo” was meeting with an undercover agent of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) who had presented himself as a FARC collaborator. During these meetings he offered to provide the Colombian organisation with assault rifles, rocket launchers and surface-to-air missiles, as well as ammunition, in exchange for cocaine and cash.

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He had even arranged to deliver three rocket-propelled grenade launchers and live ammunition to the DEA agent in July 2012. He had also paid the agent 8,500 euros ($11,180) to make a cocaine shipment to Spain on his behalf and offered to sell 200 grenades to the agent for more drugs.

The second shipment of 100 kilos and the investigations

Regarding the second shipment of cocaine found at the port of Piraeus, an investigation is underway to determine whether the persons behind it are linked to the 48-year-old Albanian’s organisation.

The quantity identified is approximately one hundred kilos, and the search for its location has been ongoing since Thursday morning and finally yielded results. According to reports, the case file that is being formed is separate from the one concerning the traffickers of the 210 kilos.