Three members of protection racket arrested in Thessaloniki

Three men from Bangladesh have been arrested and charged with blackmailing and robbing street vendors in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

Police believe the suspects, aged 24, 29 and 33, threatened street vendors with physical violence and forced them to pay cash to be allowed to continue selling their merchandise on the city’s streets.

In cases when the street vendors did not comply with their demands, the suspects allegedly confiscated the street vendors’ merchandise for a certain period of time.

The suspects were arrested after a 25-year-old compatriot filed a complaint.