Another operation by the Northern Greece Sub-Directorate for Combating Organised Crime has targeted a criminal organisation whose members were involved in the smuggling of tobacco products (cigarettes), with Thessaloniki as their main area of activity.
In a targeted police operation carried out yesterday, Wednesday, 11 November 2026, in the wider Thessaloniki and Kilkis areas, the Department for Combating the Trafficking in Human Beings and Goods, with the participation of officers from the Sub-Directorate’s Department of Intelligence and Special Operations and Department for the Investigation of Crimes Against Life and Property, arrested five Greek nationals who were members of the organisation.
A case file has been drawn up against them and a further six people, whose identities have been established, on charges including, as applicable, membership of a criminal organisation and offences under the National Customs Code.
The arrests followed a months-long police investigation, assisted by the Thessaloniki Aliens Division and the Kilkis Department for the Prosecution and Investigation of Crime. Investigators established the identities of people involved and identified storage sites and operational vehicles, while mapping the network used to sell the illicit tobacco products at retail.
The preliminary investigation found that the criminal organisation had been set up at least by July 2026, although it is believed to have been active for longer, as people involved had no other lawful economic activity and had repeatedly come to the authorities’ attention for similar offences.
In particular, the investigation established the following roles for the organisation’s members:
- A 44-year-old man played a key role in its operation, taking part in every stage of the trafficking process, from transporting and loading and unloading the illicit tobacco products to storing them. He also oversaw the operation, checked that the products were transported safely and monitored the sites for any possible police presence,
- Two 50-year-old men were responsible for receiving, loading, unloading and storing the illicit tobacco products, as well as distributing them further. They also sometimes acted as lead vehicles to ensure the transported quantities would not be detected by law enforcement, alerting the other members promptly if they spotted suspicious activity,
- A 60-year-old man provided a storage facility for the organisation in the yard of his home and was also responsible for guarding the illicit tobacco products stored there,
- A 19-year-old man and a minor took part in specific loading, unloading and transportation tasks involving illicit tobacco products.
One of the two 50-year-old men had also taken on the regular, almost daily, delivery of illicit tobacco products to people involved in retail sales, as well as collecting payment for the quantities sold.
The investigation identified at least five retailers in the Thessaloniki area who had been supplied with illicit cigarettes by this 50-year-old man.
Searches of homes, a warehouse and an operational lorry, which was fully loaded with illicit cigarettes, turned up and led to the seizure of:
- 1,086 cartons of illicit tobacco products, each containing 500 packs of 20 cigarettes, or 543,000 packs containing 10,860,000 cigarettes,
- 20,128 tobacco packages, weighing more than one tonne in total (1,006kg of tobacco),
- 71 watches, some of them luxury items,
- a lorry (tractor unit and trailer),
- a private passenger car, and
- €15,000 in cash.
According to the investigation, the total quantity distributed amounted to 1,701 cartons (BOX) of illicit tobacco products, or 850,500 packs containing 17,010,000 cigarettes.
The criminal organisation stood to gain €1,360,800 from trafficking these quantities.
The arrested suspects, against whom a case file has been drawn up, are being taken before the competent prosecutor.