Turkish mobsters were using the villa of a famous diamond merchant in Philothei, where a ship owner was living with his family, as a hiding place for heroin imported from Afghanistan with intent to distribute it to Europe.

The men from the Drug Law Enforcement unit of the Greek Coast Guard have seized so far 1.33 tons of heroin worth 30 million euros, kept by the drug leaders in the garage, and arrested the family that resided in the villa in Philothei (6 people, including the wife of the diamond merchant, her daughter and her ex-husband, a ship owner) as well as five Turkish drug barons.

The operation led by the Greek Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Greek Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began last night and is in full swing.

Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis congratulated the staff of the Greek Coast Guard for the successful outcome of the operation that led to the seizure of the largest quantity of heroin ever located on land in Greece as well as for the arrest of members of the drug dealing ring. Varvitsiotis also congratulated the Greek police, the Financial Crimes Squad and the US Drug Squad (DEA) for the excellent cooperation.

Eleven persons were arrested, alleged to be involved in the case (6 Greek among them and a minor and 5 foreign nationals), while 443 packages containing 1,133,420 grams of heroin and 5.1 grams of cocaine were seized.

Moreover, authorities confiscated six luxurious cars, one pistol and a cartridge and 6.235 euros in cash.The suspects were held at Piraeus Port Authority headquarters and shortly after 17:00 p.m. were led  to the prosecutor.