In Brief
Illegal immigrants
Police detain shipload of 117, intercept truck with another 17 The coast guard arrested 117 illegal immigrants at sea near the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the Merchant Marine Ministry said yesterday. The immigrants, all men, were aboard an Egyptian-flagged vessel intercepted without lights about 7 kilometers off the south coast of Zakynthos. Authorities were searching for three migrants reported missing. The coast guard also arrested the crew of six Egyptians and a Greek. Meanwhile, an Albanian national caught trying to smuggle 17 illegal immigrants over the border into Greece has been detained, police said. A search of a truck being driven by the suspect, in the region of Thesprotia, revealed 17 Albanian immigrants, including two minors. Gunned down Man, 31, killed outside his home in Xanthi in Mafia-style shooting A 31-year-old ethnic Greek from the former Soviet Union was killed in Xanthi, northeastern Greece, early yesterday after being shot several times in a drive-by shooting. Police said that two men shot the unnamed victim 15 times as he was about to get into his car in the early hours of the morning. Officers, who said the victim was from Komotini, are analyzing the 15 shells found at the scene of the crime in a bid to track down the assailants. ATM fraud More than 100,000 euros stolen A 38-year-old man, believed to have swiped more than 100,000 euros from ATMs in northeastern Athens, was caught in the act of trying to attach a tiny camera to a bank machine in Pallini, police said. The unnamed man allegedly used this camera, which photographs the PIN numbers of cards inserted into cash machines, to amass 105,610 euros. A 40-year-old suspected accomplice is being sought by police. Heroin hauls A 30-year-old man has been arrested in Veria, northern Greece, after officers found just over a kilo of heroin in his truck. Officers also searched two houses following the raid and found small amounts of heroin. Two men were also arrested in Trikala, central Greece, on suspicion of drug dealing after being caught in possession of half a kilo of heroin. The two men were not named but police said they were Albanian nationals, aged 41 and 48. Hellenikon park Part of the site of the old Athens airport at Hellenikon, slated for the creation of a metropolitan park, should be opened to construction so that the project can become self-financing, the Environment and Public Works Ministry said yesterday. Apart from the development of the 100-hectare section, the ministry also heralded the creation of a «green fund» whose contents would go toward maintaining the park. Hotel corpse A 63-year-old Thessaloniki woman, charged in connection with the death of an 82-year-old woman in an Alexandroupolis hotel room, was yesterday remanded in custody. The 82-year-old was found dead in her hotel room last Tuesday. She, and the 63-year-old suspect, are believed to have stopped in the northern city on their way to the island of Samothrace for spa therapy. It is unclear what charges the 63-year-old faces but a prosecutor and investigating magistrate agreed that she should be remanded. Moldy peanuts Inspectors from the Prefecture of Thessaloniki yesterday seized 18.5 tons of peanuts from China after finding that they contained high levels of toxic aflatoxins, which are produced by a species of fungus and can damage the liver if consumed. Counterfeit charges Two people were arrested in Xylocastro, northern Peloponnese, for allegedly distributing counterfeit euro notes, police said yesterday. The man and woman, who were not unidentified, are believed to have gone shopping in different retail stores with fake 100-euro notes. Police also found in their car more counterfeit money but did not disclose further details.
