Greek mafia and a deadly deal in Montenegro

Last mid-October Police officers in Montenegro stopped a rental car for a search, there were three men in it. The first of them showed a Greek passport.Vasilis Pappas” and the other two Armenian passports are authentic.

Officers told the occupants that they would further search the interior of the vehicle, when the three men jumped out and began to run. One of the Armenians in the driver's seat was arrested on the spot, while the other two fled. A Scorpion automatic and two Glock pistols were found inside the car.

Two days later, “Vasilis Pappas” was arrested at the Shugo border crossing, this time with a fake Lithuanian passport, tries to leave the country. Investigation revealed that he was Albanian, 25 years old, with no serious criminal record. The same He is a prisoner in Montenegro Arms case and in addition today he is one of the defendants in the so-called Greek Mafia case.

More specifically, findings in phone lines and cars allegedly linked him to foreign attackers. Murders of Skafturo, Rubetis and Mouzakitis. For example, a phone number charged to a 25-year-old Albanian was allegedly activated at the same time and place. Vehicle burning in ScaramangasIt was used in the double murder of Vassilis Rubetis and Dionysis Moussakidis in Koridalos.

The News 24/7 The Montenegrins took the case of the weapons in the car seriously and informed the Greek authorities. Following a formal request for judicial assistance, They sent all the data of the investigation to Athens It had started. From laboratory findings they were found in the same car Fingerprints of a man living in Asprobirgos, Kazakhstan. His house was bombed last summer. He, along with two key defendants in the Greek Mafia case, was accused in 2018 of participating in a network transporting migrants from Katakolo to Italy.

It was not explicitly mentioned in the case file for the Greek mafia, but security investigators believe the trio was discovered in Montenegro last October. He was planning to execute a new treaty, probably in the city of Budva. The question arises as to who is the target of the offside kick.

Cigarettes

The murders were attributed to members of the so-called Greek Mafia The war against cigarette smuggling. The reality is that there were two competing groups – one based in Ukraine – competing for a portion of the “security” services for cigarette smugglers. At one point the balance was upset when new players tried to operate in Greece. It is unclear to what extent the gangsters tried to take over the kidnappers' place.

In addition to the murders, two arson attacks on commercial facilities in Aspropyrgos were attributed to the Greek mafia. The first occurred in June 2023, some 24 hours after Rubetis' murder, and targeted Skaftouros company trucks located in the parking lot of a private gas station. The back of a lorry was full of cigarette making machines.

A week later, a similar attack occurred at a warehouse in Aspropyrgos. She is hired by a businessman who is said to be connected to Skaftouros. In this incident too, cigarette manufacturing machines were destroyed in the attack.

«The Philip Morris Company declared that the equipment in question was a complete set of machinery required for cigarette manufacturing and packaging, which when combined could form a basic cigarette manufacturing and packaging line.,” court documents state.

A mecca of exotic cigarettes

The presence of one of the defendants in the Greek mafia case in Montenegro is considered crucial in the last 24 hours in Athens. Because the small Balkan country washed by the Adriatic Sea has been considered since the 90s. “Mecca” for Cigarette Smugglers.

In addition, according to reliable sources, persons who came to the defense during the investigation of the Greek mafia, without being charged, have controversial professional activities and high connections in Montenegro in the recent past, even reaching its former president. Milo Djukanovic.

The Port of Bar In Montenegro it is considered a gateway for cigarette smuggling. Marine and Shell companies buy cigarettes, many of which are also produced in Greece.. At the bar, cigarettes are loaded into a sabiyogarawa and exported mainly to Libya and Egypt. The same goods are distributed duty-free outside the EU and are therefore considered valuable within the EU.

As a result, cigarette ships diverted to sea and ended up on the deserted beaches of the Peloponnese and Crete. Illegal goods exempted from taxes are then sent by network partners to countries with higher tariffs, such as the United Kingdom and Ireland. Network caches.

The information was brought to his attention by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). News 24/7 To prove that At least 20 cigarette shops from Montenegro were allegedly involved in cigarette smuggling during the period 2014-2019. Seven of them were seized – mostly in Greece – three others were classified as red flags by the same body, and at least ten cigarette shops had the same characteristics as those controlled by the prosecuting authorities – route, cargo, virtual entities in Montenegro and Libya/Egypt.