In Brief
PAKISTANI ALLEGATIONS
Gov’t plays down claims of pressure on migrants over their testimony Alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros poured cold water yesterday on suggestions that some of the Pakistanis who claimed they were kidnapped and questioned last July have been compelled to change their testimonies. Antonaros said, «The Pakistanis in question have alleged a lot of things.» The lawyer representing the migrants, Frangiskos Ragousis, told chief prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos yesterday that some of his clients had been pressured. A special parliamentary committee is due to discuss the alleged abductions today. SUBSTANCE ABUSE Use of drugs low in Greece compared to EU, expert says The use of drugs is on the rise in Greece but it is still one of the lowest ranked within the EU, the National Coordinator on Drugs, Constantinos Ballas, told a parliamentary committee yesterday. Ballas said that the use of cocaine and cannabis remained low compared to other EU countries, where it is estimated that a total of 3 million young people smoke cannabis every day. The figures from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction suggested that only 2 percent of Greeks had smoked cannabis in 2004 and that only one in every 1,000 Greek adults had tried cocaine. HUMAN TRAFFICKING Suspect arrested in Athens Police said yesterday they have broken an illegal immigrant smuggling racket that brought in migrants to Greece from Asian countries via Turkey. Police arrested a 33-year-old man in Athens after they found 31 passports – both fake and authentic ones – in his home. They also detained three illegal immigrants. The man is accused of providing migrants with fake passports once they arrived in Greece so they could make their way into other European countries, such as Italy. Police are searching for another 30-year-old man believed to be involved in the operation. Briton dies A 58-year-old British man was found dead early yesterday on board his yacht after it caught fire off the Ionian island of Corfu, the Merchant Marine Ministry said. The unnamed man was on the British-flagged Blue Chip when the fire started aboard the yacht while moored in Ypsos, on Corfu’s eastern coast, the ministry said. Tsunami aid Greece will provide 11.5 million euros in aid by next year to the areas in southeastern Asia affected by the tsunami disaster which killed at least 216,000 people in December 2004, the Greek Foreign Ministry said yesterday. This will be the third phase of financial aid to the region from Greece. Some 26 million euros, including donations, has already been spent by Greece on providing help to those affected, the ministry said. Gang busted A five-member gang led by a 15-year-old boy was responsible for looting a number of minimarkets and kiosks in Hania, Crete, police said yesterday after arresting four people and seizing 90,000 euros’ worth of stolen products. Officers said that four of the gang members are Albanian nationals and one is Greek. Three of the suspects are under the age of 18. Police did not make it clear which of the five suspects is still at large. The gang stole mainly packs of cigarettes as well as phone cards and cash from the sites they raided. Worker killed A 54-year-old worker was killed in Aspropyrgos, west of Athens, at a glass production factory yesterday after a pile of glass fell from a shelf and crashed onto him. Police are investigating the causes of the accident. Northern seizures Police in Thessaloniki said yesterday that they arrested 30 drug dealers in December and confiscated about 7 kilograms of heroin. Officers last month also seized 68 kilos of hashish, 37 grams of cocaine and more than half a kilo of methadone. Some 5,000 euros in cash from the sale of drugs was also found, officers said.
