Organized crime has obviously found a foothold in the country. The murder of a 47-year-old man in Aegaleo, western Athens, shows that some feel confident enough to carry out mafia-style hits that have so far been unknown in Greece.

Such assassinations are, of course, the worst aspect of Greece’s increasingly violent nightlife.

Greece’s nightclubs appear to be beyond the reach of the law. Virtually all clubs continue the practice of employing bouncers, as if the death of the 20-year-old Australian that occurred on the island of Myconos in the summer never took place.

In the center of the capital, private businesses use entire blocks and sidewalks as private parking lots for the luxury vehicles of their pet customers. They habitually violate the law, serving alcohol – usually adulterated – to underage customers.

The absence of the state has left entire areas at the mercy of nightlife thugs. At stake are large amounts of money; the recent killings are, subsequently, the natural outcome of widespread illegality.