The Ioannina subdivision of the Greek Narcotics Squad dismantled a large drug trafficking ring operating in Greece. Following month-long investigations, the drug enforcement authorities arrested 19 members of the criminal organisation, which is estimated to have made almost half a million euros through its illicit enterprise.
Police officers carried out concerted operations in the regions of Ioannina, Attica and Rhodes and caught 12 Greeks, five Albanians, one Moldovan and one Romanian woman. Ten of those arrested, including the foreign woman, was in Ioannina, eight in Rhodes and one in Athens. The large-scale drug cartel was structured in two groups with local “lieutenants”, who would all report to a common leader.

During the investigations, small quantities of drugs were confiscated, with the bulk of the evidence of the cartel’s activities, including large quantities of cocaine and cannabis already in the hands of the authorities. The material evidence will be included in the filed case and will be presented to the Criminal Prosecutor’s Office in Ioannina, along with the suspects.