Five defendants get life terms in Noor 1 drug trial
A criminal court in Piraeus on Tuesday handed five life sentences to suspects found guilty of smuggling more than 2 tons of heroin into Greece aboard the Noor 1 cargo ship in 2014.
As expected, the court followed the advice of a prosecutor and dealt life sentences to five key suspects: two Greeks and three foreign nationals.
Makis Yiannousakis, formerly the owner of the Noor 1, was given a life sentence plus an eight-year term as well as a 300,000-euro fine. Giorgos Bourdouvalis, a shipping agent, also received a life sentence plus a nine-year-term and a 600,000-euro fine.
Three Turks who were arrested at a warehouse in Koropi, east of Athens, where a large quantity of the smuggled heroin was found, were each given life terms plus additional eight-year sentences and fines of 200,000 euros each.
During his testimony in court, 42-year-old Yiannousakis admitted to his involvement in moving the drugs. Half a ton of heroin was found at the Filothei home of his ex-wife.
The rest of the defendants in the trial were handed more lenient sentences. Constantinos Kartsonis, who transferred some of the drugs in his truck, got 18 years in prison and a fine of 80,000 euros. The Iranian who accompanied the Noor 1 to Piraeus was given a 16-year prison term and fined 60,000 euros.
Former soccer official Emilios Kotsonis and Stavros Lagios, an ex-aide to Yiannousakis, got suspended 10-year terms while businessmen Vassilis Kourouvanis and Panagiotis Faros got suspended eight-year terms. The four were freed after appealing their sentences.
