A criminal network allegedly involved in the professional and repeated illegal provision of pay-TV services has been dismantled by officers from the Crete Organised Crime Unit. During the investigation, police found a database showing more than 86,000 customers, or end users. The total financial gain obtained by the members of the organisation is estimated at at least €7m, while the total losses suffered by legal providers are estimated to exceed €50m. 

The police operation 

A coordinated police operation was carried out in the morning of Tuesday, 16 June 2026, in areas of Heraklion, Crete, Attica, Agrinio, Corfu and Samos to end the group’s activities. The operation involved officers from the Financial Crimes Sub-Directorate of the Organised Crime Directorate, the Crime Investigation and Detection sub-directorates of Corfu, Samos and Agrinio, and specialised staff from the Digital Forensic Investigation and Analysis Sub-Directorate of the Forensic Science Directorate. Support was also provided by a specialist team from the Hellenic Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Organisation, known as EPOE. 

Seven arrests 

Six men and one woman, aged 63, 40, 73, 39, 31, 42 and 36, were arrested during the operation. Five alleged accomplices, also members of the organisation, and 71 end users, or subscribers to the illegal service, are also facing charges. The case file formed against them concerns, as applicable, offences relating to participation in a criminal organisation on a professional and repeated basis, breaches of copyright law, violations of legislation protecting subscription services, and aggravated money laundering. 

Alleged activity since 2017 

According to the investigation, the members of the organisation had developed, at least since 2017, a highly organised, multi-level infrastructure for the illegal retransmission of subscription-based audiovisual content over the internet through IPTV. The service reportedly operated without interruption for several years and served a large number of users in Greece and abroad. More specifically, the group allegedly obtained illegal access to protected audiovisual content legally provided by pay-TV platforms and streaming service providers. Using specialised technological equipment, software and configured decoding systems, they collected that content and retransmitted it illegally online to their “subscribers”. The service provided access to thousands of television channels, sports events, films, series and other digital content at prices far lower than those charged by legal subscriptions.

To support the illegal operation, the organisation had developed an extensive network infrastructure made up of servers installed in Greece and abroad. It also used intermediary servers, virtual private networks, or VPNs, systems to conceal the real location of its equipment, and the systematic rotation of IP addresses and domain names in order to make detection more difficult and bypass blocking measures imposed by the authorities and legal providers.

The organisation also maintained a central subscriber-management system used to register new customers, activate and renew subscriptions, manage user accounts and monitor the operation of the services provided. Police said the structure of the network had the characteristics of a professional business.

Members allegedly had distinct roles, including technical management of the infrastructure, feeding and updating the available content, managing subscribers and providing continuous technical support to resolve problems and ensure uninterrupted service.

Users gained access to the illegal services either through specially configured decoding devices supplied by members of the organisation or by installing specialised applications on smart televisions and other compatible devices. Subscribers were given activation links and technical installation instructions, while in many cases members of the organisation also configured the equipment themselves. The investigation also found that the group used multinational technological infrastructure and provided services to customers in numerous countries, indicating the international nature of its activity.

Police said the operation relied on an extensive network of technological tools and services that enabled the continuous supply of illegal content and allowed it to maintain operational capacity even in cases of blocking or technical intervention. To keep the “services” running without interruption, members of the organisation allegedly paid more than €280,000 for technical infrastructure. 

Money flows and alleged laundering 

Alongside the illegal distribution of subscription services, the organisation had allegedly developed a mechanism for managing and moving proceeds from its criminal activity in order to conceal their origin and make financial tracing more difficult for the authorities. Analysis of financial data found that the group used numerous bank accounts and payment methods in Greece and abroad, moving money through successive transactions in different countries. It also used electronic payment services, digital wallets, prepaid transaction tools and other alternative methods of transferring funds, while part of the payments was made directly in cash by subscribers to the illegal services. Police also found that money from the illegal activity was used to cover personal expenses, travel, a high-cost lifestyle, and the acquisition of movable and immovable property.

According to the authorities, this was an attempt to integrate illegal proceeds into the legal economy and conceal their real origin. The overall organisation, the specialised roles of its members, the duration of its activity, the technological infrastructure it had developed, the size of its customer base and the significant financial benefit obtained through the illegal exploitation of protected content point, according to police, to systematic, professional and sustained activity in online audiovisual piracy. 

What was seized 

During searches carried out in homes in the presence of a judicial official, police found and seized fully operational specialised equipment for programming IPTV boxes; multiple satellite devices allegedly used to retransmit channels illegally over the internet and to customers; multiple management panels installed on laptops and mobile phones; records relating to the purchase and maintenance of servers with foreign service providers; and evidence relating to the management of multiple domain names used to avoid blocking procedures by legal providers.

Officers also seized a large number of new devices and equipment allegedly intended for sale to third-party end users, including satellite reception and digital-content playback devices, wireless antennas, IPTV boxes, TV boxes, Android TV boxes, remote controls, connection cables, power supplies, HDMI and video signal converters, and rack-mount devices with network and video ports.

Police also confiscated customer lists, handwritten notes, diaries, more than €18,885 in cash, four vehicles and a motorcycle allegedly used in the commission of offences, 25.5 grams of unprocessed cannabis and a precision scale. The seized digital evidence will be sent to the Forensic Science Directorate, while the confiscated cash will be sent to the Consignments and Loans Fund.

Administrative fines will also be imposed on end users, or subscribers to the illegal service, in accordance with the relevant legislation. The arrested suspects are being brought before the competent prosecutor, while the investigation by the Crete Organised Crime Unit continues in order to establish the full extent of the organisation’s criminal activity.