Drug rackets use homeless as mules

Drug rackets have started using the homeless and the elderly as middlemen, sources from the police’s anti-narcotics unit have said following the arrest of a 67-year-old homeless man at Athens International Airport with a suitcase full of cannabis.

The suspect, who faced an investigating magistrate on Wednesday, was stopped at the airport earlier this week as he prepared to board a flight to Larnaca.

A search of his suitcase turned up 17.5 kilograms of cannabis wrapped in 16 packages which had been rubbed in coffee in an apparent bid to mask the smell from sniffer dogs.

The suspect told police he was homeless and was approached by members of the drug racket who offered him 500 euros to take a suitcase of drugs to Cyprus.

A police source indicated that the same racket has used similar methods to smuggle drugs to Cyprus on other occasions.