Exarchia drug arrests reach eight after new sweep

Police continued their crackdown on the illegal drug trade in the downtown Athens district of Exarchia, remanding five suspects and arresting two in a sweep on Thursday night.

The two arrests come on top of another six made on Wednesday in Exarchia and also outside the nearby Athens University of Economics and Business.

In that sweep, the six suspects were all foreign nationals who were also found to ave been living in the country illegally and are now facing additional charges of violating immigration laws.

All eight arrests have been related to the trade in cannabis and marijuana, which are illegal in Greece.

In a related development, meanwhile, police were dispatched to Exarchia Square at around 9 p.m. on Thursday to respond to a complaint of a fight during which a gun was allegedly fired, but were unable to find any illegal weapons.