Corruption uncovered at northwestern border crossing

A months-long investigation by the Internal Affairs Service has uncovered a thicket of corrupt police officers at the Passport Control Department of Krystallopigi on the border with Albania.

More specifically, seven low-ranking police officers are accused of taking bribes ranging from 100 to 600 euros in order to let Albanian nationals enter and leave the country, even though there were entry prohibition decisions in force against them for violations like drug trafficking. 

The investigation was launched following an order from the prosecutor’s office of the northern Greek town of Kastoria after an investigation conducted by the Patra Port Authority.

The existence of the racket was confirmed after privacy restrictions were lifted on the mobile phones of the officers in question.

Two private individuals are accused of being the ringleaders of the gang, the former being the owner of a snack bar adjacent to the border station and the latter a private employee. 

Authorities are also prosecuting three taxi drivers who received the passports from Albanian nationals and transferred them to the police officers at Krystallopigi where they were doctored.

According to the investigation of the Internal Affairs Service, the ring was allegedly active since 2020. During this time, police officers were involved in 77 cases of issuing false documents. They put the entry-exit stamp on the travel documents of Albanian nationals, allowing them to continue their journey. 

The taxi drivers, in addition to delivering the passports, also acted as collectors of the falsified documents.

The surveillance of the phones revealed that the forgery of the passports occurred in the early hours of the morning as there were very few uniformed officers on duty at that time.