File photo.
The arrest at an Athens long-distance bus station of a man with a pair of cocaine-laced shoes has led to the unravelling of a gang directed by a convict that traded in large quantities of drugs, police said Sunday.
The crackdown began Friday, following a tip-off, and led to three arrests in the Greater Athens region and the seizure of 10.5 kilograms of heroin, 2.2 kilos of cocaine as well as smaller quantities of marijuana and ecstasy.
Police detained a 71-year-old man who was trying to send a package containing the shoes with 20 grams of cocaine concealed inside them by bus to a destination outside Athens. It emerged that he had received the drugs from a 58-year-old man who in turn was working on behalf of a third man serving a sentence in a Greek prison for unspecified offences, a police statement said.
Officers also arrested a 52-year-old woman suspected of helping store and adulterate the drugs. Together with the narcotics, police found and seized large sums of cash including Thai, Korean, Chinese, Argentinian, Sri Lankan and Emirati currency.
