Aspropyrgos

Three separate attacks on migrant workers living in the industrial town of Aspropyrgos near Athens were reported on Monday, as rights groups said there has been a spike in racially motivated assaults in recent months.

Seven men with covered faces broke into a flour factory in Oinofyta, north of Athens, in the early hours of Wednesday and made off with the company's safe.

The break-in took place at around 4.30 a.m. and the robbers managed to make a clean getaway.

No details were released concerning the contents of the safe.

People living within a 2-kilometer radius of a recycling factory in Aspropyrgos that caught fire last year have a 13 percent increased risk of developing cancer, according to the coordinator of CROME-LIFE, the Cross-Mediterranean Environment and Health Network, whose findings were presented on Tuesday in Athens.

The European Commission is seeking to slap Greece with a fine of more than 16 million euros for failure to comply with waste-water treatment regulations at the Thriasio Plain in western Attica. Greece will also face additional fines for every day that it fails to get the facilities serving the towns of Elefsina, Aspropyrgos, Magoula and Mandra up to scratch.

Police have arrested a member of an international ring trafficking people from Turkey to Greece, authorities said Friday.

The Greek Police on Saturday announced the arrest of seven suspects believed to be key members of one of the biggest truck- and car-theft gangs active in Greece over the past few years.

The suspects - a Greek, three Albanians and one each from Nigeria, Somalia and Cameroon - are believed to have run the gang behind hundreds of vehicle thefts in different parts of Attica.

A gang distributing large quantities of contraband cigarettes in Greece has been unraveled, police said Thursday. 

According to Attica Police Chief Christos Papazafiris, more than 16 million cigarettes and 4 tons of tobacco were confiscated.

The amount of money in lost tax and levy revenues, he said, amounted to more than 5 million euros.

Unknown assailants opened fire against officers of the Dias motorcycle unit that were chasing a car that did not stop for a check.

The incident occurred in the Aspropyrgos area near Athens on Friday and ended when the car snuck into a Roma camp in the area.

No one was injured. An investigation has been launched
 

An industrial accident occurred on Wednesday at a logistics hub in Aspropyrgos, western Attica, after 700 liters of formaldehyde poured out of a tank onto the street while it was being transferred.

The area was blocked off for hours while specialized crews removed the toxic waste.

The driver of the vehicle transferring the tank was arrested.

Police Friday made a serious dent in a crime ring that has stolen at least seven trucks in central Greece, with the arrest of four people while another four are being sought.