Korydallos Prison

Another two suspected members of a huge extortion racket centered around convicted crime boss Panayiotis Vlastos were remanded in custody on Wednesday after defending themselves before an investigating magistrate.

As a judicial probe into a massive extortion ring directed from inside Korydallos Prison deepened, an investigating magistrate on Tuesday granted two suspected members conditional release while remanding another two.

Details from a huge case file on a massive extortion ring directed from inside Korydallos Prison indicate that the racket members had absolute freedom of movement inside the high-security jail as well as access to heavy weaponry and significant financial support, Kathimerini understands.

The jailed head of a crime syndicate, Panayiotis Vlastos, has allegedly told a relative that he knows who murdered two Golden Dawn members in late 2013.

Convicted November 17 terrorist Christodoulos Xeros, who was arrested last weekend in Anavyssos, southeast of Athens, after a year on the run, was transferred on Friday to Domokos Prison in central Greece.

Forensics investigators on Thursday were scouring a van for any possible evidence that it is linked to a suspected jailbreak being planned by convicted November 17 terrorist Christodoulos Xeros before his recent recapture.

Greek police officials have raised the possibility that convicted terrorist Christoforos Xeros's activities while on the run may have been financed by convicted criminals serving time in local correctional facilities, Kathimerini understands.

Police on Tuesday found equipment that could be used to construct 100 bombs at a second hideout allegedly used by Christodoulos Xeros, the November 17 terrorist who was arrested on Saturday after 12 months on the run from authorities.

Captured fugitive Christodoulos Xeros, convicted to six life sentences over as many murders committed by terrorist group November 17, had been planning a major attack against Koydallos Prison, the police said on Sunday.

Xeros had been at large for a year after failing to return from furlough in January 2014 and until his arrest on Saturday in Anavyssos, southeast of Athens.

Christodoulos Xeros, the convicted member of the November 17 terrorist group, was arrested near Athens on Saturday, a year after he disappeared while on furlough from Korydallos Prison.