Fuel smugglers linked to underworld

Investigators have linked members of a racket arrested on Tuesday for fuel smuggling and adulteration, to underworld businessmen with criminal histories for related offenses.

One of the facilities used by the 20 suspects was a truck parking lot in the Aspropyrgos area. The facility was previously linked to one of the most powerful members of the so-called Greek Mafia who was murdered at his country home in Dervenochoria, Viotis, on Easter 2022. Trucks owned by him and parked in that particular area had been the target of an arson attack in June 2023.

The investigation also revealed that one of the trucks found in that parking lot belonged to a businessman who has been prosecuted more than once for fuel smuggling. There are strong indications that the said truck was transporting adulterated fuel to a petrol station in the center of Athens. The petrol station is owned by the same businessman and was the site of an explosion in early 2000s that left two people dead.

The 20 people have been charged for smuggling and money laundering and have until Monday to prepare their defense before the investigating magistrate. Another 10 people are being prosecuted in the same case, although they evaded arrest. The police have ascribed leadership of the gang to a 62-year-old man from Giannitsa, northern Greece, who in the past allegedly served as a priest in Great Britain.

The two-month long investigation revealed that the ring had been operating since at least December 2023. According to estimates, it imported over 100 tons of chemical solvents from Bulgaria to Greece, while another 150 tons were moved from a factory in Tanagra, a town north of Athens where the adulteration took place

The amount of duties and taxes lost is estimated at more than €500,000.