N17’s Xeros recaptured after a year on the run
Christodoulos Xeros, the convicted member of the November 17 terrorist group, was arrested near Athens on Saturday, a year after he disappeared while on furlough from Korydallos Prison.
According to sources, Xeros was recaptured shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday as he left a house that he had rented in Anavyssos, southeast of Athens. Xeros was carrying a handgun at the time he was caught but did not attempt to use it. Police said he did not resist arrest. Xeros was sporting a blond wig (he has dark hair) and had grown a beard to disguise himself, said officers.
It is believed that the property, which Xeros allegedly rented two months earlier using fake documents, had been under observation for 10 days before members of the counter-terrorism squad swooped in to arrest him.
Xeros had been on the run after failing to return from the nine-day prison leave he was granted on January 1, 2014. Xeros had initially presented himself every day at a police precinct in Halkidiki, where his sister lives, but failed to do so on January 6, prompting a nationwide manhunt.
Two weeks later, Xeros appeared in a video proclaiming his return to terrorism and issuing threats against politicians and the media.
Xeros received six life sentences for his involvement in November 17. He was found guilty of taking part in 33 of the group’s attacks, including six murders.
