Greek officials seize half a ton of cannabis
Authorities in northwestern Greece confiscated 442 kilos of cannabis that were smuggled into the country on a speedboat from neighboring Albania early Thursday morning.
According to reports, the bust was made after police in the coastal town of Preveza were tipped off about an imminent arrival of drugs from the Albanian coast via sea.
Six coast guard vessels from nearby Igoumenitsa and the Ionian islands of Lefkada and Corfu were deployed to monitor the boat in the sea off Thesprotia.
The skipper, a 42-year-old Albanian national, was arrested as soon as he docked at Plataria bay and started unloading the drugs at around 2 a.m.
Police said the cannabis was being transported in 36 packets. The suspect was to appear before a prosecutor in Thesprotia.
In a separate bust, police in the border town of Florina in northern Greece seized 60 kilos of cannabis hidden in a pickup truck in the region of Krystallopigi.
Two Albanian nationals, aged 24 and 33, were arrested after border police officer conducted a search of their vehicle and discovered the drugs.
