Athens shooting victim linked to protection racket

The 39-year-old victim of an execution-style shooting in downtown Athens on Sunday night was known to the police as a member of a protection racket that extorted money from brothels in the Greek capital.

Identified by his initials, K.I., the Albanian national had also been the target of a previous assassination attempt in the spring of 2010. In that incident, unknown assailants had rigged his car with an explosive device that caused damage to the vehicle and nearby buildings but left the driver and his passenger unharmed.

In Sunday’s attack, K.I. was shot at eight times by a lone gunman as he sat at an outdoor café near Athens’ main railway station. He died shortly after in hospital of injuries to his head and stomach.
Investigators are also looking into possible links with drug-trafficking rackets as they seek the perpetrator of Sunday’s attack.