In Brief
BOMB HOAX
OA flight forced to land in Munich; no explosives found aboard An Olympic Airlines flight that was carrying 11 Greek MEPs to Strasbourg made an emergency landing in Munich yesterday after the pilot reported a bomb threat. The Boeing 737, which was carrying a total of 136 passengers, landed at 10.45 a.m. at a special area of Munich airport set aside for emergencies. All the passengers were safely evacuated. Greek police said that someone calling their headquarters had made the threat but the flight number given did not exist. The Strasbourg flight had the closest number. Sniffer dogs failed to find any explosive device on the plane. CRAFTY CABBIE Taxi driver arrested after allegedly driving for 6 months without license A taxi driver was arrested on Saturday in the Acropolis area, central Athens, after police caught him driving despite having his professional license revoked six months ago. Police said the driver lost his license after being caught charging a Canadian couple an excessive amount for a short trip. Earlier this month, police received another complaint about the suspect from a tourist who had been charged excessively for a short trip. The unnamed driver was found in possession of a fake professional driver’s license after initially refusing to stop at a police checkpoint. He has been remanded in custody until his trial. STEM CELLS Thessaloniki gets cryogenics bank Greece’s second state cryogenics bank is to be set up within Thessaloniki’s Papageorgiou Hospital, Deputy Health Minister Thanassis Yiannopoulos said yesterday. There is already one such bank, for the storage of umbilical cord blood stem cells, at the Athens Academy’s biological research center. There are also 10 private cryogenics banks in Greece. Cells stored at private banks can only be used in the treatment of illnesses suffered by the donor, while cells stored at state banks can be used on all potential patients. Sex ring The owner of a strip club in Athens was arrested on Friday along with 10 waiters employed at the nightspot for allegedly running a prostitution racket, police said yesterday. The bar is believed to have had adjoining private rooms where customers were offered sex services by the dancers. Authorities added that the women kept 40 percent of the fee charged, with 60 percent going to the suspects. Narcotics suspect Police arrested a 22-year-old Albanian national in Palaio Faliron, southern Athens, yesterday considered to be responsible for large shipments of drugs being smuggled into Athens. Authorities found in his possession more than 2 kilos of cocaine, 87.5 kilos of cannabis, two guns and 105 bullets. The suspect is believed to be operating as part of an international gang smuggling drugs into Greece from Albania. Car scam Two men were arrested in Menidi, northern Athens, on suspicion of selling motorcycles and cars that did not belong to them, police said yesterday. The suspects, aged 27 and 40, allegedly agreed to pay another man a total of 7,500 euros for his car. The two men paid the owner 1,000 euros and agreed to pay the rest in four installments. But they produced forged papers for the car and sold the vehicle to another man for 2,000 euros. Police said the suspects had used this tactic to sell seven cars and one motorcycle over the last three years. Food confiscated Piraeus prefectural authorities yesterday confiscated 15 tons of meat and vegetables that had passed their expiry date in the Rendi food market, southern Athens. Authorities said they discovered the food, some of which had a 2005 expiry date, after a tip-off. A prosecutor is investigating the incident. Photo exhibition We would like to clarify that a photography exhibition on the Thessaloniki seafront is being organized by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and not Doctors of the World as stated in the caption of a photograph that appeared on our front page on Saturday, April 21. The exhibition contains photographs from various parts of the world where Medecins Sans Frontieres conducts missions.
