Arms-smuggling policemen busted in operation on Crete
Five police officers have been arrested for their role in a ring which smuggled weapons and ammunition in packages containing frozen meat, after an undercover investigation in Hania, Crete, that lasted for months.
The officers, from regional police departments and DIAS motorcycle units, are to be charged with participating in the ring which smuggled Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and ammunition into the country and distributing them in Crete, where the ring was apparently based, as well as to Attica and other areas.
According to authorities, the initial lead came from a tip-off that said a crime ring was looking to buy heavy weaponry, including RPG anti-tank weapons.
The ring apparently ordered the weapons from companies abroad, mainly in Germany and Austria. One of these supplier companies, in southern Austria, had already come to Europol’s attention for selling weapons as collectables that were later found and confiscated in full working order in Spain, Germany, Finland and the UK.
Police are now examining past package deliveries the company made to Greece.
Among other Greek police units, the anti-terrorism squad is also involved in the investigation, as a company in Finland was found to have sold collectable weapons to members of Greece-based urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, including Glock pistols, in the past.
