The Combating Organized Crime Directorate, modeled after the FBI with nationwide jurisdiction over all major cases, is being established within the Hellenic Police by Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis. The aim is to curb the rampant activity of organized crime and address corruption within the Police Force.
The coordination and control of new Directorate, which is expected to also absorb the Financial Police to handle major cases of smuggling, fraud, and tax evasion, will be directly overseen by the Chief of the Hellenic Police, aiming for flexibility, immediacy, and effectiveness. Its headquarters will be in Attica, with a branch in Thessaloniki, under the supervision of the Prosecutor of the Courts of Appeal. Existing Security Services, such as the Attica Security Directorate, will now only handle cases unrelated to organized crime.
Under the umbrella of the new Directorate, the responsibilities of the Deputy Directorates for Combating Organized Crime and Human Trafficking, Prosecuting Crimes against Life and Property, Protecting Property Rights, Cultural Heritage, and the Environment, Drug Enforcement, and Violence in Sports Venues are merged, thereby eliminating them from the organizational structure of the Attica Security Directorate.
The establishment of the Directorate, which will be operational from September 1st, has been approved by the Council of State through the relevant Presidential Decree.
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Mr. Chrysochoidis proceeded with the establishment of the “Greek FBI” in order to “ensure the most effective combating of organized crime, which constitutes a significant threat to citizens, businesses, state institutions, and the country’s economy, given that criminal groups now exhibit international characteristics and immediate adaptability to constantly changing conditions, which increases the difficulty of their confrontation by competent state authorities, while criminal networks have expanded to international dimensions, and the activity of the Greek Mafia has disproportionately increased, with an unprecedented cycle of violence that began in 2017 and continues to this day.”
It is recalled that Minister Chrysochoidis, during his previous – fourth in a row – tenure in the Ministry of Citizen protection, had delivered to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office a file containing indictments and names of members of the so-called Greek Mafia and organized crime, seeking the conduct of a prosecutorial investigation, which, however, did not yield results. Organized crime has now taken on international dimensions, and the action of the Greek Mafia has increased excessively, with an unprecedented cycle of bloodshed that opened in 2017 and continues to this day.
