Police bust protection rackets in Mykonos and Athens
Police in Mykonos and Athens have arrested four people on suspicion of membership of a gang that operated protection rackets in the two locations.
In a coordinated operation late Wednesday in Mykonos, two members of the gang were arrested after collecting protection money from a shop owner.
This was followed by two further arrests in the early hours of Thursday in an Athens suburb.
Subsequent searches in a number of homes yielded pistols, bulletproof vests, folding knives, cartridges, two motorcycles and a car, mobile phones and more than 30,000 euros in cash.
The arrested individuals are expected to face charges of forming a criminal organization, extortion, illegal use of weapons as well as threats of violence against officials and court officers.
Police say the arrests have revealed four cases of extortion of business Mykonos and in the Athens suburbs of Glyfada and Alimos.
The gang demanded from one Mykonos restaurateur protection money of €8,500 in total for the summer months, and had already received €5,900. They were also taking €200 a month since last November from a Glyfada restaurant and an Alimos butchery.
