Statements by the Director of the Attica Security Directorate, Police Major General Fotios Douitsis:
«Good morning,
We have invited you here today to present you an important case that was handled methodically and perfectly by the Sub-Division for the Prosecution of Crimes against Life and Property of the Attica Security Directorate, and resulted in the dismantling of a criminal organization of transnational character, whose members committed a total of 4 homicides in 2020, in Vari, Attica and Corfu.
The first homicide was committed on 19 January 2020 in Vari, when four perpetrators entered a restaurant and shot, fatally wounding two foreigners while they were dining with their families, slightly injuring a relative of one of the victims.
The second homicide was committed on 23 July 2020, when two foreigners were found dead, with multiple gunshot wounds, inside a vehicle in an area of Corfu.
The four victims, citizens of Montenegro and Serbia, were leading andassisting members of a criminal organization, based in a region of Montenegro, active in drug trafficking worldwide, while they were prosecuted internationally with Red Notices – three for forming a criminal organization and one for a homicide case.
However, in 2014 this criminal organization was split into two and from now on rival organizations when they lost 200 kg of cocaine in Spain. This led the four victims to flee to our country in order to protect themselves from the rival organization, while residing, using false identification, in areas of Attica, at least since 2019.
The organization, which was hostile to the victims, joined two more of the most powerful organizations in the Western Balkans, gradually sending people to our country in order to locate the victims and execute the homicides.
Indicative of the great importance of the case is that this rivalry between the two organizations has led to at least 60 homicides throughout Europe. In order to deal with it, our country initiated the creatio9n of a Joint Investigation Team with Serbian authorities and a Europol team, with the code name “Ithaca”.
Theinvestigations of the Sub-Directorate of Crimes Against life and property resulted in the identification of every member of the criminal organization who participated in the homicides committed in our country, both the actual perpetrators and their accomplices, as well as the leading members of the organization who decided the homicides.
In total, within the framework of International Police Cooperation, 39 members of the organization were identified, 7 of which were arrested in Serbia and 2 in Spain, while 17 members are in custody in various Detention Centers in Europe, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey.
In particular, 8 members of the organizations were identified as instigators of the homicides committed in Greece, 8 members as the perpetrators ( 4 in each homicidecase) and 23 members as their accomplices.
The investigations in our country,led to the arrest of a foreigner, who contributed to the storage and transport of the weaponry used in the homicides, as well as to the transfer of the members of the group from Sivota to Halkidiki, where they resided until they left abroad.
I would like to point out something in this case that demonstrates the magnitude of the disregard that these people have for human life and at the same time their devotion to their cause. Regarding the two murdered in Vari, who were previously located in a large shopping center in Attica, with thousands of visitors daily, the perpetrators would not hesitate to carry out the homicides in there, not thinking at all of the possibility of collateral victims. That only did not happen due to the late arrival of their weaponry.
At this point I would like to congratulate and thank Europol and the police authorities of Serbia, France, Belgium and the Netherlands for our excellent cooperation and the exchange of information between us, which had a catalytic role in identifying the modus operandi and structure of criminal organizations and resolving the four homicides in our country.
Also, I would like to congratulate all the executives of the Department of Crimes against Life and Personal Freedom for the impeccable professionalism and special dedication they showed throughout the investigations.
More details will be presented to you by the Spokesperson of the Hellenic Police, Police Captain Mrs Konstantia Dimoglidou.
Thank you. »
Statements by the Spokesperson of the Hellenic Police, Police Captain Mrs Konstantia Dimoglidou:
Honorable Members, good morning!
As mentioned by the Director of Attica Security Directorate, a criminal organization of a transnational nature was dismantledby the Sub-Directorate for the Prosecution of Crimes against Life and Property, the members of which committed 4 homicides in 2020, in Vari, Attica and Corfu.
For the two cases, a total of 39 people have been identified as perpetrators, namely 8 as the actual perpetrators, 23 accomplices, as well as 8 instigators, 7 of whom were arrested in Serbia, 2 in Spain and one, an Albanian national, in Greece. Also, 17 of these individuals are in custody in Detention Centers in Europe, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey.
Regarding the case, in 2020 there were four homicides of foreigners in our country, namely:
- January 19, 2020 four perpetrators, having their characteristics covered, entered a restaurant in the area of Vari, Attica, and repeatedly shot two foreigners, nationals of Montenegro, while they were having lunch with their families, fatally injuring them, while a relative of one of the two was slightly injured. 24 casings and 1 cartridge were collected from the spot.
- July 23, 2020 two foreigners, nationals of Montenegro and Serbiawere found dead in a vehicle in a courtyard of a residence in Corfu, with multiple gunshot wounds all over their bodies. During the autopsy, 32 casings, 7 bullets and 2 metal fragments were collected.
As the General foretold, the four victims were prosecuted internationally with Red Notices –by case – for forming a criminal organization and for intentional homicide and were leading members of criminal organizations who were active in drug trafficking worldwide and were also cooperating.
However, members of a rival organization joined two other powerful organizations in the Western Balkans, resulting in identifying those victims and executing the homicides in our country.
Due to the cross-border nature of the investigations, cooperation was developed with Europol and authorities of France, Belgium and the Netherlands and a Joint Investigation Team was established. Large-scale and digital technical investigations were used, as well as special investigative acts and police investigations.
The result of the above cooperation was the full verification of the structure and action of the three criminal organizations, which united and cooperated for the execution of the homicides in our country, the way they entered Greek territory and the means they used. At the same time, the identity of each member of the organization and the level of involvement of each one in the cases, as well as that of the leading executives who decided to carry out the homicides, were ascertained.
In particular, in order to achieve their purpose, they operated with a clear hierarchical structure and distinct roles, namely:
- part of them had undertaken the identification and surveillance of victims, the rental of houses in appropriate areas, the rental and supply of vehicles and the supply and storage of weaponry and equipment while
- Other people had the role of “executioners” of the homicides.
In detail:
- once their targets were identified in Greece, the members of the organization would immediately prepare and entered the country, using false travel documents as well as moving through migrant smuggling paths,
- the members had already procured large sums of money from the leading executives in order to use them both in the preparatory actions and for their escape,
- To avoid the identification of individuals, and particularly of the leading members, the information was conveyed through many individuals, while special means and techniques of masking were used (masks, wigs, gloves, divers’ uniforms, cleaning of the accommodations with chemicals and burning of the vehicles).
Indicative of the professional structure and the way they operated, was the ease in finding and transporting weapons, ammunition and equipment and the great liquidity of the money. It is characteristic that for the case of Vari an amount of money of 2,000,000 euros was required.
In addition, a sign of the organization’s determination is that, ignoring collateral damage, they entered a large shopping center in an area of Athens, where they identified their targets, in order to shoot them, something they did not do due to the late arrival of the weaponry at the point.
Regarding the investigations carried out in our country, as mentioned above, an alien – accomplice to the homicides was arrested, who, as it turned out, undertook the storage of the weaponry and equipment of the first homicide in Vari, their transfer to Corfu for the second homicide, and the transfer of theactual perpetrators to an area in Halkidiki, where they stayed until they left abroad.
The above foreigner was located and arrested in the evening of Tuesday, February 27, 2024, in Athens, while in his home, during the searches, a pistol, magazines and 40 cartridges were found.
The case file was submitted to the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office, while the arrested person was referred to an Investigator.
Investigations to locate and arrest the remaining members of the organization are ongoing.
Thank you.»
