An Albanian man is being sought in connection with the crimes carried out by gangs in the Cretan village of Zoniana, police said yesterday. Officers said the man is the 18th suspect to be linked to drugs and gun running on the island but, unlike the other 17 suspects, is still on the run. Sources said that the suspect is known to police and goes by several surnames, including Bakoulas, Perparim, Perpatinim and Roustemal. Sources said his fingerprints were found on a package containing a kilo of cocaine, which was discovered near Zoniana last November. Greek authorities have informed Interpol that they are looking for the suspect.

Police in Athens yesterday appealed to the Filipino mother who abandoned her newborn baby in Exarchia on Sunday to come forward, stressing that she needed medical attention. The baby was handed over to police by another Filipino woman who originally said she had found it in the trash but then said she had been concealing the identity of the mother who had been scared to go to hospital for fear that authorities would deport her. Police searched the mother’s flat and found evidence that she had borne the child at home.

Police in Kozani yesterday arrested a 40-year-old man who allegedly abducted a 27-year-old German woman and kept her prisoner in his home where he raped her and forced her to work as a prostitute. The suspect allegedly kept the woman hostage for three months.

The Justice Ministry has ordered an investigation into the death of a 40-year-old inmate at Korydallos women’s prison after she apparently choked on her own vomit on Saturday. The unnamed drug user was placed on February 5 in a cell with five other prisoners under close observation. But a warden found her dead on Saturday. The 40-year-old was the first woman to die in a Greek jail this year. A total of 52 inmates died in prison last year. Six of them committed suicide.

The new leader of the Synaspismos Left Coalition, Alexis Tsipras, said yesterday that he plans to spend as little time as possible in his office in his attempt to woo voters. Speaking a day after he was elected to the role, the 33-year-old said: “Society needs the Left out of its offices and on the streets to help fight the social struggles with the first major date being Wednesday’s general strike.” Tsipras also rebuffed accusations from PASOK MP Theodoros Pangalos that the Synaspismos leader was trying to steal Socialist voters like “products from a supermarket.” Tsipras said voters could make their own judgments, unlike products in the supermarket.

A motorist was taken to a Tripolis hospital with minor injuries yesterday after being shot at by another driver with whom he collided on a country road outside the town in central Greece. It was unclear who was to blame for the crash but the second motorist – who had been traveling with his grandchild – pulled out a shotgun and fired at the victim following the collision. The victim’s injuries were not serious as the bullet ricocheted off the car before hitting him.

A prosecutor and a magistrate yesterday failed to reach an agreement about whether to remand in custody a 24-year-old Roma man accused of attempting to kidnap a 10-year-old boy in Hania last week. According to the boy’s parents, the suspect tried to push the 10-year-old into a car just a short distance from their home. The suspect denies the charges.

Police seized several hauls of drugs across the country yesterday. The largest haul was near the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa where officers found a rucksack containing 23.5 kilos of cannabis. The rucksack is believed to have been brought over the border by Albanians and left for collection. In Larissa, police arrested a 38-year-old woman carrying 730 grams of heroin and 104 grams of cocaine. In Thessaloniki, two men were arrested in separate raids, each with a kilo of cannabis on them.