Greek Police Arrest Six Port Employees for Smuggling in Piraeus

Authorities in Greece have busted a group of six stevedoring employees for allegedly smuggling drugs through the Port of Piraeus, the third time in three years that workers or officials at the port have been detained in connection with cocaine imports.

According to local media, the personnel were employed by a private firm that runs cargo operations at Piraeus. They have been charged with participating in international organized crime, and have denied the charges.

The narcotics were allegedly loaded into reefer containers of bananas departing Ecuador, a common cover cargo for cocaine shipped out of South America. Ecuador's banana producing region near Guayaquil is a major transshipment area for the drug: bananas are a high-volume cargo, so the contaminated shipments are difficult for customs officers to single out. Banana cargoes are commonly shipped to destination markets for cocaine (Europe and North America), making them a convenient carrier.

Greek police said that they obtained surveillance of the group's communications, and that the scheme was led by an Albanian crime group. The overseers of the scheme used the employees' port access, and would direct them to retrieve drugs out of "dirty" containers. Albanian mafia organizations are among the leading players in cocaine shipping, and are believed to have close ties with Italy's Ndrangheta, an acknowledged leader in European cocaine trafficking.

The arrest follows after a high-stakes raid in the Neo Ikonio sector of Piraues on Monday. Authorities caught four stevedoring employees in the act of recovering cocaine from a shipping container, and a chase ensued: the suspects attempted to get away in a Porsche mini-SUV, and the police shot out its tires to halt their escape.