A large-scale drug crackdown on the island of Crete launched early on Thursday morning had seen 16 suspects remanded in custody by midday, as authorities focused their efforts on the activities of three families suspected of ties with organized crime.
According to preliminary reports, investigators are treating nearly 80 members of the three families as persons of interest in an operation spanning three of Crete’s four prefectures.
Supervised and coordinated by the Iraklion Crime Investigation Division’s Narcotics Unit, with the assistance of the special forces unit EKAM and the OPKE organized crime unit, the 200-strong task force was carrying out raids on dozens of homes and farms in Iraklio, Rethymno and Lasithi.
By midday Thursday, authorities had seized quantities of cocaine and hashish, weapons and cash, and had also ordered a freeze on more than 50 bank accounts.
