It wasn’t just one ton of heroin that was smuggled in Greece, it was almost too. The second ton was discovered by the Greek coast guard on Sunday. 986 kilos and 600 grams of heroin, wrapped in 138 plastic packages were hidden in Togo-flagged tanker Noor-1 moored near the port of Elefsina in Western Attica. The discovery was done in the context of investigation about the one ton of heroin discovered two weeks ago in a warehouse in Koropi and a shipowner’s villa in Filothei. According to Greek media, it is the biggest discovery of illegal drugs found not only in Greece and Europe but worldwide. The illegal load was so well hidden that even the dogs searching for drug were not able to locate it.
Apart from the drugs Noor-1 was found to hide also 18 tons of illegal fuel oil.
Maritime Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis told Vima FM on Monday that more arrests are on the way and the arrested shipowner was one of the drugs barons. “We have touched one of the biggest drug trafficker sin Europe,” Varvitsiotis said announcing that more arrests were under way not only in Greece but also abroad.
The name of the arrested shipowner has not been officially named by the authorities due to ongoing investigation. However the media have reported every detail about the family who was hidding two tons of heroin.
“Fourteen suspected members of an international heroin smuggling racket are to face a magistrate on Tuesday and Wednesday after a Piraeus prosecutor late on Sunday charged them with running a criminal gang and drug trafficking.
The suspects were arrested following the discovery of a ton of heroin at a warehouse in Koropi, eastern Attica. The cache was found just over a week after another half ton of heroin was found in Koropi and an additional half ton at the Filothei home of a shipowner who has been implicated in a broadening probe into the drug racket.
The 14 suspects to face charges in the coming days are the 11 crew members of the Noor One Togo-flagged tanker which is moored near the port of Elefsina and is believed to have transported the drugs to Greece. The drugs are said to have been collected in the international waters between Oman and Pakistan, the Associated Press quoted a Coast Guard official as saying on Sunday.
The other three suspects are a 53-year-old woman believed to be employed by the owner of the Noor One, a male suspect who is alleged to have helped transfer the drugs to the Filothei townhouse and an Iranian national who is said to have guarded the drugs at the Koropi warehouse.
Another 12 people, including the shipowner with the Filothei home and members of his family were arrested in connection with the heroin ring earlier this month. “(ekathimerini)
