Police have arrested five Albanian nationals believed to have been using a flat in the eastern Athens neighborhood of Aegaleo to adulterate and package dozens of kilos of cocaine and heroin imported from their homeland.

The five suspects – three men in their 20s and two women, aged 28 and 55 – faced a prosecutor yesterday. They are thought to be members of an extremely well-organized cross-border ring that has smuggled more than 50 kilos of heroin into the country in the past three months alone. A raid on the apartment led to the confiscation of several kilos of heroin, a smaller quantity of cocaine and unidentified powders believed to have been used to “cut” the drugs before packaging them for sale. Officers also dismantled a makeshift production unit involving a food mixer and an electric oven. Several firearms, including a machine gun, were also seized.

Residents of the other apartments in the block said they had not noticed anything unusual.