The Thessaloniki Criminal Court of Appeal imposed life imprisonment, and additional temporary sentences of 8 to 15 years, on each of the five defendants who were arrested last September for the “mammoth” quantity of 585 kilos of cocaine seized by the National Police, in eastern Thessaloniki.

The Court convicted in the case a 52-year-old man, his 43-year-old wife, their two nephews (22 and 34 years old), as well as a 36-year-old man, as it found them guilty of aggravated drug trafficking and criminal organization (in case of direction and membership). All the convicted are Albanian nationals, with the exception of the 36-year-old, who has Greek citizenship but traces his origins to the neighbouring country.

It was the largest quantity of cocaine seized by law enforcement authorities in the city and one of the largest in the Greek territory. According to the authorities’ estimates, the illegal merchandise – originating from Latin America – would bring profits of between 11 and 33 million euros to the trafficking ring if it ended up in the wholesale market, while in the retail market, after adulteration and “breaking” into smaller doses, the profit could even reach 175 million euros.

Police were struck by the nazi swastika that some of the 500 cocaine packages seized (others had the logo of a car manufacturer’s company). As explained by an experienced police officer who participated in the investigations and testified as a witness, this is a common practice followed by the Latin American cartels, that is, to use logos, giving identity to the quantities of cocaine they manufacture in their laboratories.

As for the operation by the General Affairs Department of the Thessaloniki Narcotics Sub-Directorate, the same witness said that information from the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) about the arrival of the cargo through the port of Thessaloniki preceded the operation, so the persons involved were put under surveillance and arrested in the areas of Epanomi and Agia Triada.

With the exception of the 43-year-old woman, who denied the charges, the others confessed their involvement in their pleas, but stressed that they believed that the parcels contained hashish. In addition, they said that they themselves were simple transporters and that they would leave the drugs “locked up” in two houses, where they would be picked up by another person, who was not named. “If I knew it was cocaine I would have left. I thought it was hashish,” apologised the 52-year-old, who was given a “starring” role in the indictment. He said he had worked for 18 years as a firefighter in Albania and that his co-defendants would receive a reward of 10,000 euros and he would receive a larger reward after the drugs were delivered.