Police officers from the Anti-Narcotics Sub-Directorate of the Organized Crime Directorate in Greece dismantled an international criminal organization, whose members were active in transporting significant quantities of marijuana from Albania to Turkey, via Greek territory.
To dismantle the organization, a large-scale police operation was carried out in the early hours of Friday, August 14, 2026, in an area of Thessaloniki, with the assistance of police officers from the Narcotics Department of the Organized Crime Sub-Directorate of Northern Greece and the Crime Prevention and Suppression Department of the Thessaloniki Crime Prosecution and Investigation Directorate.
As part of the operation, an Albanian from North Macedonia and an Albanian from Kosovo were arrested as members of the criminal organization, while the file also includes another person who has been identified and declared wanted.
This was preceded by the proper use of information regarding the organization’s activities, while after police actions, cross-checks of data and profiling of the persons involved, in cooperation with the Anti-Drug Authorities of North Macedonia and the Kosovo Region, their criminal activity was certified.
As the investigation revealed, members of the organization, which had a hierarchical structure and professional infrastructure, used international transport trucks to transport significant quantities of marijuana, while using legal shipments of recycling paper, both to hide the drugs in specially designed warehouses and to cover and legalize the movements of the vehicles.
To achieve their goal, members of the organization had distinct roles:
The person not arrested had undertaken the overall coordination of the actions in Greece for the trafficking of narcotics and, in particular, the finding of suitable places for their temporary storage, as well as the formation of crypts within the shipments of recycling paper, where the drugs were hidden, while also undertaking contacts with suppliers and coordinating truck drivers, for the further transport of narcotics from Greece to Turkey,
The 58-year-old had undertaken to support actions related to the transportation, concealment and sending of narcotics from Greece to Turkey,
The 43-year-old was responsible for obtaining narcotics from Albania and hiding them in specially designed crypts in shipments of paper for recycling, with the aim of further transporting them, through Greek territory, to Turkey.
During the operation, the two arrested individuals were found in a closed area in an area of Thessaloniki, jointly possessing, on behalf of other members of the organization, 8 pallets loaded with paper for recycling.
Of the pallets, 4 were located inside a semi-trailer vehicle and 4 next to it, while special crypts had been formed inside the cargo, where carefully hidden packages containing marijuana were found, with a total weight of approximately 324 kg and 474 grams, for the purpose of their further transport and movement towards Turkey.
In total, from the checks carried out, the following were found and seized:
324 kg and 474 grams of marijuana, a semi-trailer, 2 private cars, 2 cell phones, the registration plate of the car of foreign authorities, 11 empty bags near the area where the drugs were seized and the amount of money of 1,165 euros.
It is estimated that the illegal financial gain expected from the organization’s activities exceeds 700,000 euros.
The arrested persons were sent to the competent prosecution body, while investigations to identify and locate their collaborators in Albania and Turkey continue.