Wiretaps have exposed members of a major fuel smuggling network that was making “golden deals” at the expense of citizens and public services, pocketing more than €3 million.

According to an extensive investigation by Greece’s version of the FBI, the ring imported solvents from abroad to adulterate fuel, used illegal software to rip off consumers, and filled home heating tanks with cheaper but extremely poor-quality oil.

In many cases, they didn’t even bother to keep up appearances in their conversations, openly discussing quantities and upcoming shipments.

Sample Wiretaps

Conversation 1

• Speaker A: Yeah?
• Speaker B: In five minutes, that guy Mitsaras from Athens is coming.
• Speaker A: Okay, he’ll have to wait. There’s nothing to load yet, the tanker hasn’t arrived.
• Speaker B: Alright, got it.
• Speaker A: Got it.
• Speaker B: Got it, later.
• Speaker A: Later.

Conversation 2

• Speaker A: Yo, bro.
• Speaker B: He asked me if we pushed any crap gas yesterday. I told him no, why?
• Speaker A: Okay.
• Speaker B: I told him everything was full, jet skis, boats, all full.
• Speaker A: Not with the gas, but you did it with the other one.
• Speaker B: Yeah, I told him, I told him at GOLDEN.
• Speaker A: Those 3.5 ones?
• Speaker B: Yeah, I told him there was a lot of diesel in there. He wouldn’t leave, so when he left for a bit, we poured a little in and capped it at 3.5.
• Speaker A: Right.
• Speaker B: Just so you know, we had 1,050, then 1,750, we gave out 700, and now my “number three” is still at 1,050.

“They didn’t find anything, right?”

Another exchange took place on the day investigators raided a gas station lot looking for stolen vehicles:

• Member A: What’s up?
• Member B: What happened?
• Member A: They left.
• Member B: Like 15 of them?
• Member A: Yeah.
• Member B: What did they want?
• Member A: To screw me.
• Member B: They didn’t find anything though?
• Member A: Just some crap. An old tanker I’d left rotting for ten years, no frame number visible. They also took my BMW M5 conversion. Said the parts might not be legit. Took one of my guy’s scooters too.
• Member B: Why?
• Member A: Said they need to check if it’s legal. Turns out it was the FBI, man. The FBI.
• Member B: They didn’t say anything about the other stuff?
• Member A: Nothing. Just said someone filed a complaint. In the end, the guys calmed down. Still, 30 of them in total—eight cars at mine, another eight at my buddy’s lot.

“You sold me awful oil again?”

Finally, one of the most telling exchanges was between a gang member and an angry customer who had bought bad heating oil:

• Customer: Yo.
• Dealer: What’s up?
• Customer: Man, you sold me that oil again?
• Dealer: Nah, it’s clean.
• Customer: Clean? Come on, man. The boiler’s acting up again today.
• Dealer: What do you mean?
• Customer: What, am I gonna be the one paying the price for this?
• Dealer: Relax, I’ll come over.
• Customer: What do I do now? Tell me.
• Dealer: What do you mean “bad,” man?
• Customer: The burner keeps shutting off. The technician said the oil’s garbage.
• Dealer: When I bring clean stuff, you don’t have a problem. Now there’s a problem.
• Customer: Yeah, man. Clean it up, I don’t want to pay again to clean my tanks.

The Network’s Operations

Investigators say the smuggling ring operated on three levels. At the top was the leadership core, run by a 38-year-old man who, coincidentally, shares a last name with a slain member of the so-called “Greek Mafia.”

Two subgroups operated under him: one handling gasoline distribution, the other solvents. The ring had bases across Attica, Trikala, and Thessaloniki, and connections in Poland, Bulgaria, and Albania. It imported solvents, adulterated fuel, tampered with pumps, and sold marine diesel to customers as heating oil without receipts.

On top of that, they cheated consumers with short deliveries using illegal software known as Solitaire, which manipulated the official fuel monitoring system. Customers would often receive up to 25% less fuel than shown on the pump—yet paid full price.