With 450 “frontline” inspectors, fully equipped with drones, body cameras, vessels, weapons, bulletproof vests, specialized machinery, and personnel transport vehicles (on- and off-road), the new DEOS inspection body of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue will begin operations in the coming days. It replaces the SDOE after 29 years of service.

This newly established General Directorate of Forces for the Control of Economic Transactions (GD-DEOS) will become operational from mid-March, entering the fight against large-scale tax evasion and all forms of organized economic crime.

The New “Rambos” of the Tax Authority

The new directorate’s remit is broad, with a particular focus on:

• Combating smuggling
• Customs and tax evasion
• Tax fraud
• Monitoring capital movements

It will also target:

• Illegal trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances, precursor chemicals
• Illegal trafficking of weapons, ammunition, and explosives
• Illegal trafficking of antiquities, monuments, relics, and works of art, aiming to protect Greece’s national cultural heritage

The force will be staffed by 370 operational officers from AADE inspection services and the former SDOE, joined by 80 new inspectors to be selected by a competent committee assessing qualifications, experience, and operational readiness.

Personnel will undergo continuous specialized training, including drug enforcement, firearms training, hand-to-hand combat, and suspect restraint techniques, to deal with aggressive attempts to obstruct inspections. Their mission is to identify and dismantle smuggling networks and organized crime groups operating at night. With special enforcement vessels, cars, and off-road vehicles, they will be able to intervene anywhere economic crime occurs, on land or at sea, in real time.

How It Will Operate

At the core of the plan are two Operations Rooms, equipped with advanced communication systems and real-time image feeds, including via drones. These will coordinate all inspection teams and conduct post-operation assessments of each mission’s impact.

By continuously monitoring operations, the Operations Rooms will also collect and synthesize new data using advanced Artificial Intelligence tools, enabling the identification of networks, entities, patterns, relationships, and structures that reappear across multiple cases—even in real time.

International Cooperation

The new body will cooperate internationally with OLAF, Interpol, and Europol. A special unit will function as the National Asset Recovery Office (ARO Greece), facilitating mutual administrative cooperation through international networks such as CARIN.

Through comprehensive analysis, synthesis, and cross-checking of information, the goal is to uncover complex, interconnected criminal networks, a core strategic objective behind the creation of DEOS.

Where DEOS Will Strike

Before each operation or raid, officers will be equipped with body cameras, weapons, bulletproof gear, and devices capable of communications interception and geolocation, ensuring constant contact with the Operations Room and direct support from AADE’s control center.

Key operational objectives of the “DEOS Plan” include:

1. Investigating, identifying, uncovering, and combating economic crime related to tax and customs cases, major tax evasion, customs fraud, capital movement controls, and the possession or trafficking of prohibited or regulated goods and substances.
2. Conducting investigations, preventive and enforcement inspections, follow-up audits, and targeted on-site checks to ensure correct application of tax and customs legislation and to combat tax avoidance, tax evasion, smuggling, customs fraud, and any form of fraud against public revenues.
3. Handling cases related to electronic economic crime and intellectual property violations.
4. Monitoring proper implementation of provisions related to national and EU subsidies and grants.

30,000 Inspections in 2026

The headquarters of the new body will be in Athens, supported by three categories of regional units operating 24/7:

• Special Economic Audit Units (MEOEL) in Attica and Macedonia: investigations into economic crime, including cybercrime, corruption, and fraud involving public officials.
• Special Tax Audit Units (MEFEL) in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, and Heraklion: focusing on large-scale tax evasion and avoidance.
• Special Customs Audit Units (METEL) in Attica and Thessaloniki: focusing on smuggling and customs fraud.

The inspection network is tasked with carrying out at least 30,000 inspections in 2026—nearly 100 actions per day on average—including:

• Combating tax evasion through electronic means, the internet, and new technologies
• Freezing bank accounts and assets in major tax evasion cases
• Tackling intra-EU VAT fraud, including carousel fraud schemes
• Filing criminal complaints with prosecutors upon completion of tax evasion cases
• Conducting tax audits related to the movement, import, export, supply, and distribution of products subject to Excise Duty

More broadly, DEOS will also address undeclared work and violations of social security legislation, informing the Labour Inspectorate accordingly.

The New Force at a Glance

• 370 operational officers from AADE inspection services and the former SDOE
• 80 new inspectors selected by a special committee
• Off-road vehicles, enforcement vessels, and cars for land and sea operations
• Two Operations Rooms with advanced real-time communication and imaging systems, including drones