Contraband smokes seized in northern Greece; four arrested

Members of the Financial Police in northern Greece on Wednesday arrested four suspected members of a contraband tobacco smuggling racket after finding 924,000 packets of illegal cigarettes in a warehouse near Thessaloniki.

The suspects, three Greeks and a foreign national, face charges of running a criminal gang. The racket evaded an estimated 5.8 million euros in state customs charges and tariffs.

According to police investigators, they had been renting a large warehouse on the outskirts of Thessaloniki since March of last year.