Ex-police officer implicated in Xeros case allegedly linked to extortion rackets
Police on Friday arrested 15 suspects believed to be linked to a 54-year-old former police officer who is being investigated for his alleged connection to Christodoulos Xeros, the November 17 terrorist who was captured earlier this month after spending nearly a year on the run.
The unnamed former policeman is accused of helping Xeros organize a prison breakout for convicted members of the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire urban guerrilla group.
Investigators looking into the activities of their former colleague have allegedly uncovered a plethora of evidence linking him to numerous organized crime networks. He is also suspected of being a key supplier of explosives to extortion rackets active in various parts of the capital as well as to the gang behind the kidnapping of shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos in 2009 and the bombing of the home of the judge who tried the case.
