Pharmacology

A 43-year-old Pakistani national who was arrested on Tuesday evening at Athens International Airport while trying to smuggle more than 11 kilograms of heroin into the country is part of a wider international drug ring bringing drugs into Greece from Asia, police said on Wednesday.

The 43-year-old reportedly flew into Athens from Lahore in Pakistan via Doha in Qatar.

A 45-year-old Serbian citizen has attempted to cross 10,345 kg of heroin across Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint. The value of the captured quantity of drugs is 931 050 leva. On Monday, at Kapitan Andreevo Border Checkpoint, around 5.30 hours, from Turkey to Bulgaria entered a Peugeot brand, run by the foreigner. The vehicle was diverted for a thorough customs check.

News that the Greek government has issued the country's first licenses for growing medical cannabis to two private firms has been greeted warmly by patients and businesses alike.

Every year the third Thursday of November marks the International Smoking-free Day. This year, the Ministry of Health decided on November 16, 2017, the motto of the campaign to be "Stop now for better health tomorrow", reported the Bulgarian National Television. 

Despite the failure of successive governments to implement a decade-old smoking ban, the majority of youngsters in Greece do not smoke, 2017 data from statistics agency ELSTAT show.

Only 12.7 percent of Greeks aged 16-24 spoke daily and 8.1 percent smoke occasionally, a reduction attributed to rising awareness concerning the dangers of tobacco.

Bulgarian customs officials have seized 712kg of heroin from inside two Iranian trucks entering Bulgaria from Turkey.

Officials on Friday valued the record heroin haul at NZ million.

The drugs were found in two Iran-registered trucks at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the Turkish border.

They were carrying construction materials and were bound for Austria.

Greek and foreign pharmaceutical companies have expressed concern over the extent of state spending on drugs this year, which means the sector's companies will have to return at least 200 million euros more to the state than last year.

SOFIA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — Bulgarian law enforcement officials have seized 20.21 kg of heroin at the country's Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint near the border with Turkey, officials said Friday.

The illicit drug, split into 19 packages, was found on Thursday afternoon in the trailer of a truck entering from Turkey, the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on its website.

Police in the town of Kalamata, southern Greece, on Tuesday arrested five suspected members of a drug-trafficking gang active in Messinia and Attica.

Authorities believe the gang has sold at least 12 kilos of heroin since March.

A 35-year-old Pakistani national is to face a prosecutor over the weekend on charges of drug smuggling after police at Athens International Airport found more than 7 kilograms of heroin in his luggage.