All the action of the alcohol smuggling ring: ‘The goat’, ‘the can’ and 10 arrests

A total of ten people were arrested, accused of being members of a gang trafficking illegal alcohol and counterfeit agricultural protection products. According to police, the damage to the Greek state exceeds €150,000. Ten members of the organization, including its leadership, were arrested for involvement in smuggling illicit alcohol. They face charges including criminal organization, forgery, violations of the National Customs Code, agricultural pesticide laws, and weapons legislation. The case also includes two additional suspects. Prior intelligence revealed one member illegally importing agricultural products from Eastern Europe, collaborating with another who distributed them via email to farming supply stores nationwide. After months of systematic investigation by the Economic Crimes Unit, it was confirmed that since at least 2012, the group smuggled large volumes of goods—including illegal alcoholic beverages and fake pesticides—into Greece using tourist buses with hidden compartments specially built into vehicles registered abroad. These secret compartments helped them evade customs and border checks. Once in Greece, other gang members collected the goods in Thessaloniki and Athens, stored them in controlled locations, and distributed them to buyers at an average price of €10 per bottle. To avoid detection, members used code words such as ‘water,’ ‘goat,’ ‘can,’ ‘white,’ ‘black,’ and ‘blue,’ referring to the colors of the bottles they trafficked. Roles within the group were clearly defined: a 60-year-old acted as ringleader; a 25-year-old handled deliveries and storage; a 64-year-old driver assisted in unloading and dismantling hidden compartments alongside his 56-year-old accomplice, who also sold the illicit alcohol; a 51-year-old bus driver transported goods upon coordination with the leader and the 25-year-old; a 38-year-old foreign company owner provided buses for transport and participated in unloading; two men aged 55 and 60 assisted in unloading operations; a 44-year-old travel agency employee facilitated parcel transfers knowing full well their illegal nature; another 56-year-old woman collaborated in sales; a 67-year-old helped move alcohol within storage areas; and an unidentified operational member working at a travel agency in Eastern Europe handed over goods to drivers for transport into Greece. Annual damages to the state exceed €150,000 due to unpaid taxes, duties, and fees. Searches across three buses, ten cars, eight homes, two travel agencies, and a bus parking area led to the seizure of 529 bottles of alcohol, 165 liters and 7 kilograms of fake pesticides, 30 cigarette packs, cash totaling €212,070, $1,105, and 19,845 Ukrainian hryvnias, two hunting rifles, three blank-firing pistols with 253 cartridges and 177 dummy rounds, a pen-style pistol, nine knives, four drones, three buses, two cars, 77 fireworks, electronic devices (mobile phones, laptops, digital storage), and numerous handwritten notes. Relevant authorities have been notified for product testing. The suspects are now before the competent prosecutor.