A prosecutor in Patras yesterday charged 15 people with being members of racketeering gangs which have been active in the western city for more than 10 years. A 25-year-old man was charged with the murder of another alleged gang member two years ago. Four other suspects were charged with being accomplices. The prosecutor also charged all five suspects, as well as another 10 people arrested in raids over the weekend, with forming criminal gangs. Police said they are looking for up to 17 more suspects in connection to the alleged protection racket.

British military officials on Cyprus yesterday identified a Royal Air Force serviceman and one of his children as victims of a fire on the Akrotiri RAF compound in southern Cyprus last week. Andy Greenough, 37, and his son Evan, 5, died in Greenough’s home on the base, a statement by the British military said. Greenough’s younger child, a girl, has been missing since the blaze but forensic experts examining the scene have yet to find any trace of her, officials said.

A homemade explosive device went off outside the offices of PASOK MP Nora Katseli in Nea Smyrni, southern Athens, late on Sunday, causing minor damage, police said yesterday. Eighteen firefighters using six fire trucks were involved in the operation. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which police attributed to self-styled anarchist groups.

A 12-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man have been arrested in connection with some 50 car thefts in the northern suburb of Maroussi, police said yesterday. The pair are believed to have carried out the thefts with the help of another man who is being sought, according to police, who made the arrests on Sunday. The alleged thieves usually chose cars parked around The Mall and Cosmopolis shopping centers and removed car radios and other items of value, officers said.

Two men, aged 32 and 30, have been arrested in Thessaloniki in connection with an organized ring believed to have installed electronic devices on ATM machines to copy the details of their victim’s bank accounts, police said yesterday. The suspects, both Romanian nationals, were arrested while allegedly trying to withdraw money from a bank account. A search of their hotel room uncovered various electronic equipment and a laptop computer, police added.