With the nickname “Greek Escobar” and an over 20-year-long history of cocaine trafficking, 65-year-old A.A. was arrested in northern Greece over the weekend, after the French Navy seized a ship loaded with 5.4 tons of cocaine off the coast of France.
Arrested have been also four Greek nationals and one Bulgarian onboard of the ship as well as another five people in Athens, Thiva and Katerini, northern Greece.
The operation was carried out by Greece’s Narcotics Division in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the French authorities.
According to sources, the vessel departed from Nea Michaniona port near Thessaloniki in northern Greece a month ago and is believed to have loaded a substantial shipment of narcotics in Latin America before heading to Europe.
The final destination of the cargo is not yet known, daily kathimerini reported.
The French Navy has been towing the vessel from the Atlantic Ocean for the past two days in support of the operation. The ship is expected to arrive at the port of Piraeus, where the drugs will be counted and the five detainees on board handed over to Greek authorities.
The 65-year-old ring leader, the son of a policeman, was arrested while he was moving from Nea Michaniona to Katerini. He had reportedly started his illegal career as doorkeeper in Athens nightclubs, at some point he owned a local football club and he is officially active in the hospitality sector, owning three hotels in northern Greece.
He was sentenced to life in 2004, when another ship he owned was seized carrying cocaine worth 500 million euros off the coast of Spain. He was released from prison in 2015, media reported.
I still have a little hard time still with the Greek language!! It helps me to keep up with the news!!! Σε ευχαριστώ πολύ