Organized crime

The police investigation into Sunday's Mafia-style execution of 44-year-old Vangelis Zambounis, a prominent underworld figure, in the Neos Kosmos suburb of Athens is reportedly focusing on the release of a mobster from prison 10 days ago, the rumored reversal of his business relations in recent months and his possible involvement in the war between Russian-speaking smugglers.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 10 people wanted by six countries with Interpol red bulletins have been arrested in Istanbul in scope of the "CAGE-30" Operation.

Greek police arrested four people believed to be members of a criminal gang selling forged artworks, Byzantine images and small antiquities to buyers in the wider region of Attica and Europe. 

Police was notified by a person who fell victim to the fraud, having bought a fake painting for 50,000 euros.

The data for 2023 on the fight against smuggling at border gates and ports have been announced. The total value of smuggled tobacco, cigarettes, tobacco products and alcoholic beverages seized last year amounted to 1.2 billion Turkish Liras resulting in a tax loss of approximately 800 million liras.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced the arrest of 80 smuggling organizers and the apprehension of 2,155 irregular migrants in a series of operations conducted across 27 provinces within the first four days of the new year.

Police detected a total of 24 migrants who entered Greece illegally from the Turkish border in two separate incidents between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

A non-national migrant smuggler was arrested at the Kipoi border crossing after they found 18 migrants in a trailer attached to the truck he was driving.

Unknown assailants violently attempted to abduct a woman at the Elaionas toll station in Aigio, western Greece, on Thursday evening. Video footage captured by a passing driver reveals a man pulling the victim by her arms, another trying to seize her legs, while a third kept the vehicle door open.

It is a common secret from Russia to Latin America and from Eastern Europe to the Western Balkans that hooliganism and common crime often tread common ground; that hard-line associations of fans of the rituals of war and violence are sometimes the reservoirs from which extremist formations and organized crime recruit executioners.

As the Kurir writes, referring to its sources, they are suspected of money laundering. According to unofficial information, the owners of private companies and agencies were arrested.
Blic, on the other hand, learns that the detainees are suspected of having laundered over 350 million dinars and are charged with the criminal offense of money laundering.

Two men, aged 63 and 34, have been arrested in the southern Peloponnese city of Kalamata for the illicit possession and trafficking of drugs and weapons, authorities said on Monday.