Island news

Over the past few days we have read about horrendous crimes occurring all over the country, including illegal arms trade, extortion, murder, armed robbery, shootings, organized crime... etc! Crime is sky-rocketing in Greece. Earlier in the week police authorities said in an announcement that in the period between June 2 and June 8 more than 15,000 people and almost 800 vehicles were checked in Athens alone, while they added that out of a total of 6,423 people that were investigated, a whopping 5,500 were foreign nationals. The announcement said that most of the arrests were made for robberies, drugs offenses and failure to produce valid residence permits. The police said that it also made checks with municipal police on illegal street traders, leading to the seizure of almost 6,000 items of knock-off clothing and more than 2,500 CDs and DVDs.


Indeed... the rate of crime is at an all time high. Aside from all the other stories we featured here on hellasfrappe over the past week, here are a few more that really shocked us. Indicative is the list below.

• FEMALE OFFICER SAVED BY SAFETY CATCH - A Greek police woman was threatened with her own service weapon after one of the suspects managed to steal it from her and then threatened to kill her but failed to shoot the weapon because the safety catch was still on. The 43-year-old suspect was one of three men arrested on charges of producing forged travel and identification documents.. 

• POLICE CRACK DOWN ON ORGANIZED CRIME RING - Police have arrested four members of an organised ring of Afghans who stole materials from the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) and in parallel robbed systematically and sold "protection" to Pakistani shopkeepers in Athens. Two Greek taxi drivers were also arrested, who are accused of complicity in the theft of OSE materials. The ring's activities were uncovered following investigations by police who initially arrested two Afghan nationals in Malakasa and the two taxi drivers.

• ALBANIAN SHOT DEAD - A 30-year-old Albanian man was found dead in his home in Loutraki in the early hours of Thursday morning, shot in the head by a fire arm. The victim was found by another Albanian national. A coroner and police forensic team have been called in to investigate the crime scene while an investigation by the Corinth security police is now underway.

• FOREIGNER FOUND DEAD IN XYLOKASTRO- A young man was found dead at the location of Kampos in Xylokastro, in the Peloponnese, on Thursday and, according to initial reports, he has two knife wounds. The body is believed to belong to a South Asian and has been taken to the city of Corinth for a postmortem and autopsy, while police are conducting enquiries to solve the case.

• BRITISH TOURIST KILLED IN CORFU - A 19-year-old British tourist was found dead outside the apartment where he was staying in the Kavos area on the island of Corfu in the early hours of Thursday morning. The young man's body was spotted by passers-by that called the police. According to a police announcement, a coroner and a special forensics team have been called in to conduct an investigation and determine the cause of death. Sources at the local hospital, where the body was taken, said the young Briton had bruises on his face and that a complete autopsy will be carried out on Friday. An inquiry to determine the events that led to the 19-year-old's death is being carried out by the Lefkimmea police station.

• KOSOVO NATIONAL ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF ELDERLY WOMAN IN CEPHANOLIA - Authorities in Pristina, Kosovo announced the arrest of an Albanian national wanted as a suspect in the murder of an 82-year-old woman in the Greek town of Argostoli on the island of Cephalonia in May 2010. The 24-year-old Albanian suspect was initially taken into custody by local police for drug trading and subsequently found to have an outstanding European arrest warrant issued against him in connection with the Argostoli robbery and murder. The murder case was cracked by the Argostoli police, who found that two 24-year-old Albanians, the man caught in Pristina and an accomplice, had entered the home of the elderly woman on May 1, 2010 in order to rob her. The two men had bound and gagged her, choked her to death using a plastic bag and then removed jewellery and money from the house.

• FOUR ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL ARMS TRADE - Four individuals, aged 29, 34, 36 and 41, were arrested on charges of dealing in illegal weapons, a ring allegedly run out of an unlicensed gun shop in west Athens' Peristeri district. A police search of the suspects' residences, the store and three restaurants owned by the suspects, among others, turned up for assault rifles, three sub-machine guns, more than a dozen handguns and three shotguns, along with ammunition. All four were led before a prosecutor.

• UK TOURIST ARRESTED FOR KNIFE ATTACK ON LOCAL - A 37-year-old UK national was arrested on the Dodecanese holiday island of Kos and was charged with knifing a 47-year-old local man in the buttocks. The incident occurred in the town of Kos earlier this week following an argument between the Briton and the island resident, which resulted in the former injuring the latter using a sharp object, presumed to be a knife. The 47-year-old was taken to a hospital on the island, where he was admitted for treatment. According to doctors, his condition gives no cause for concern. Police launched a search and located the Briton, who was identified by the victim, according to reports. He was arrested and brought before a public prosecutor, who charged him with causing dangerous bodily harm.

• POLICE ARREST ALBANIAN DRUG SMUGGLERS - Three Albanian nationals aged 27, 26 and 22 were arrested in Filiata, northwestern Greece this week for smuggling a large quantity of hashish into Greece from Albania, while three accomplices were wanted. On their possession police confiscated four travel bags in which were hidden eleven packets containing a total 117 kilos of hashish. The suspects were sent before a local prosecutor. 

(Combined Reports - Katimerini, AMNA, TA NEA, TO BHMA, newsbomb, newsit)