Gang jailed in Thessaloniki for smuggling half ton of cocaine

A Thessaloniki court has handed five defendants prison sentences ranging from 8 to 15 years for their role in the smuggling of 585 kilograms of cocaine from Latin America.

The mammoth drug bust in September 2023 was the largest ever to have taken place in the northern port city.

The court convicted a 52-year-old man, his 43-year-old wife, their two nephews (22 and 34 years old) as well as a 36-year-old man for drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organization.

All the defendants with the exception of the 43-year-old woman pleaded guilty to the charges. However, they claimed that they believed the drug packages contained cannabis. They also claimed to have simply transported the drugs from one location to another for a third party, whom they did not name.

Some of the 500 packages of drugs were labeled with a swastika, a symbol also used by Latin...