Four arrested in North Macedonia after cocaine bust in Greece

Four people have been arrested in North Macedonia, police said Wednesday, following cooperation with Greek authorities over a cocaine shipment seized in neighboring Greece a day earlier.

A total of 14 people have now been detained in both countries as a result of Tuesday’s operation in Greece’s northern port city of Thessaloniki, where Greek officers confiscated 105 kilograms (230 pounds) of cocaine.

The drugs from South America had been brought to Thessaloniki on a cargo ship, and were hidden in hollow external sections of shipping containers that held a consignment of bananas from Ecuador.

North Macedonia’s police said in a statement that they arrested two men and a woman Tuesday, and a third man Wednesday as he was allegedly trying to cross the border from Greece. All four were nationals of North Macedonia, and are suspected of belonging to an international organized crime ring, the statement said.

It added that the drug shipment was ordered and paid for by a fruit importing company in Skopje, North Macedonia’s capital.

Greek police said the Thessaloniki operation followed coordination with the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The suspects arrested in Greece were identified as seven Greeks and three Albanians.

[AP]