Vavilis not guilty of dealing
A few months ago, he was Greece’s most wanted man but yesterday a court in Larissa, central Greece, exonerated Apostolos Vavilis of smuggling drugs into Greece some 15 years ago – the alleged offense which first brought him to the attention of authorities. The appeals court ruled there was reasonable doubt related to the charge that Vavilis regularly smuggled (and sold) heroin from Italy to Volos between January 1988 and October 1991. The case against him had been outstanding since 1994. Vavilis’s parents told the judges that their son had been in France at the time in question. Retired police officer Yiannis Triantafyllakis said that there was no way Vavilis could have been guilty. In June, Vavilis was given 22 months in jail for forging an identity card with the help of Triantafyllakis. Vavilis has been in custody at Korydallos prison since April and is being investigated in connection with a range of charges, including forgery, false impersonation, breaching state secrets, embezzlement, theft and perjury.
