Convict from 2013 illegal arms shipment among Thursday’s arrests
A 60-year-old Turkish man known to Greek authorities by the codename “Kostas” is among 26 people who were remanded for questioning on Thursday following a counterterrorism operation in the central Athens districts of Exarchia and Sepolia.
The unnamed 60-year-old has been under surveillance by Greek authorities for several months, after first appearing on their radar in 2013 as one of the key players in an attempt to smuggle a large number of weapons and explosives into Turkey from Greece by boat.
The suspect and another two Turkish nationals were arrested at the port of the island of Chios at the time and charged with illegal weapons smuggling and participation in the Turkish far-left DHKP-C terrorist organization.
The 60-yar-old was convicted to six years in prison and his fellow countrymen to seven years each by a court on the island of Lesvos.
In Thursday’s operation, which resulted from a months’ long investigation into the 60-year-old, counterterrorism officers seized an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, including two anti-tank missiles.
