Helicopter jailbreak is solved

An audacious jailbreak attempt involving a helicopter landing at Korydallos Prison last June was organized with the aim of helping convicted murderer Alket Rizai to escape and not the brother of Greece’s most wanted criminal, according to a Piraeus prosecutor who issued charges yesterday. Vassilis Palaiocostas, the brother of serial robber Nikos Palaiocostas who was arrested three months after the escape, took advantage of the situation and also boarded the helicopter, the prosecutor’s probe has shown. Authorities believe that a well-known criminal underworld figure wanted to help Rizai escape so he could employ him as a hit man. Rizai, an Albanian national, was recaptured three months after the escape but authorities believe he had already shot dead two men last August. The prosecutor has charged Rizai with the murder of Costas Koutelieris and Yiannis Katsios in Peristeri, western Athens. Rizai had allegedly been asked to carry out other killings but was caught before he could go through with them. Vassilis Palaiocostas is still at large.