Annual report exposes rackets in police force

The annual report by the Greek Police’s Internal Affairs Department has exposed serious corruption in the force, with data for 2018 pointing to a rise in prosecutions against police officers for involvement in organized crime.

In 2018, investigators looked into 1,122 corruption complaints, roughly the same number as in 2017. Of these, 60 percent related to police officers, 20 percent to civil servants and 10 percent to private individuals.

In total, 23 police officers were arrested, an increase of 10 percent from 2017. However, nine were accused of serious crimes, mainly migrant smuggling, as opposed to just three in 2017.

In the latest case, an officer was arrested on July 12 at the airport of Kos, in the eastern Aegean, for organized migrant trafficking.