Greek police on Friday announced the results of a multi-year multinational investigation into feuding Balkan crime syndicates behind multiple murders across Europe. The investigation was carried out with the support of police agencies Interpol and Europol, and 10 suspects were arrested.
Police officers from Greece, Serbia and Spain were also involved in the arrests. A decade-long conflict between gangs, mainly involved in drug trafficking, has killed 60 suspected gang members in several European countries, police Maj. Gen. Fotis Duisis said.
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The killings include two shootings in Greece in 2020, in which four gang members living under false identities were shot dead. Two suspected gangsters were killed in a restaurant near Athens, while the other two were killed in a car in a parking lot on the island of Corfu.
This is a photo of the Greek flag being raised against a clear sky. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
At a press conference in Athens, Greek police also announced that they had identified a total of 39 people who are said to be members of warring gangs based in Serbia and Montenegro.
“When 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of cocaine went missing in Spain in 2014, a single criminal organization split into two separate rival organizations,” Doucis told reporters.
Greek police spokeswoman Constantia Dimogridou said one suspected gang member was arrested in Greece earlier this week, seven in Serbia and two in Spain. She said 17 other gang members were incarcerated in various prisons in Europe, including Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey.
Dimogridou said the gangs used migrant smuggling routes to enter and exit Greece and used masks and wigs to hide their identities during attacks.
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She said the criminal network had a sophisticated structure and had easy access to large sums of money, vehicles, weapons, ammunition and equipment.
