Illegal drug trade

8 people have been detained for the unlawful production and distribution of drugs in a joint operation of Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (DANS) and the Czech authorities.

A Brazilian man was arrested at Athens International Airport on Monday after being caught with about five kilos of cocaine in his position.

The drug had been hidden inside chocolate boxes in his luggage.

Police said they believe the 40-year-old was acting on behalf of a South American drug trafficking ring. He flew to Athens from Sao Paolo via Dubai.

A "drug-use map" is set to be drawn up by the Turkish government, as part of its strategy to combat drugs, with "narco-teams" apparently set to play a significant role in this action plan.

The Central Narcotics Bureau busted a drug ring in Lebanon that had employed a Bulgarian chemist to produce Captagon pills for export to a country in the Gulf, Lebanese police said on Tuesday.

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A businessman who tried to hire the Noor One tanker, which was seized in June after more than a ton of heroin was found on board, is due to appear before investigating magistrate Maria Skarpou on Tuesday, Kathimerini has learned.

Some 33 people have been detained in an anti-drug operation in Istanbul, with police accusing the suspects of selling drugs in front of walls where they had written anti-drugs graffiti in order to cover their illegal acts.

A prosecutor on Wednesday brought criminal charges against three men who were arrested on Tuesday in connection with a 230-kilogram cocaine haul in the southern Athens suburb of Voula.

Three men were arrested in Athens on Tuesday after police raided a home in the southern suburb of Voula and seized 230 kilos of cocaine.

Police said that one of those arrested is a Greek man from Kalamata. The other two suspects are foreign nationals: a Colombian-born Canadian citizen and a man from Mexico. They are alleged to be members of an international drug smuggling ring.

The real-life character from the controversial movie “Midnight Express,” which was accused of misrepresenting Turkey to the world in 1978, will raise the Turkish flag on New York’s Wall Street, as part of Turkey's Oct. 29 Republic Day celebrations in the city.

A 23-year-old woman faced drug trafficking charges on Saturday after a routine drug check on board a passenger ferry returning from the islands to the Port of Piraeus, found her to be in possession 106 grams of cocaine.

The young woman turned the drugs over to port police following an announcement that a canine unit was about to inspect the Blue Star 2 ferry for drugs.