After a slope robbery successful Kato Titorea constabulary detained 8 people. According to Michalis Chrysochoidis, ΕΛΑΣ I’ve been watching the radical for a agelong time, which is besides associated with 11 raids.
Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis stated that Ελληνική Αστυνομία (Greek police, ΕΛΑΣ) person agelong observed a radical detained aft an equipped slope robbery successful Kato Titorea. According to him, we are not talking astir 1 spontaneous raid, but astir a radical that has already committed different robberies.
“They committed different robberies – 1 large 1 and respective smaller ones. The constabulary organized themselves, watched them and acted.”– stated Chrysochoidisspeaking astir the cognition ΕΛΑΣ. According to him, the radical was “very susceptible and active”but ended up falling into a constabulary trap.
When asked astir imaginable connections betwixt the detainees and different transgression activities, the curate responded cautiously: “They whitethorn beryllium connected to something else, but that will beryllium determined by judges and prosecutors.”. This connection leaves country for further investigation, including verification of the root of the weapons, the routes of the wealth and the imaginable contacts of the group.
Bank robbery and speedy arrests
The robbery happened successful the greeting May 11 astatine a slope subdivision successful Kato Titorea successful Phthiotis. According to Naftemporikitwo participants entered a slope pretending to beryllium elderly, utilizing wigs and mendacious mustaches and beards. Threatening with two pistols and a submachine weapon Scorpionthey immobilized customers and employees and took astir 217,000 euros.
The third participant, equipped with a instrumentality weapon Kalashnikovaccording to police, remained extracurricular and controlled the situation. After the raid, the radical fled successful a αυτοκίνητο with fake licence plates, then moved into different car, besides with fake licence plates. This nary longer looks similar “they went retired to bargain breadstuff and robbed a slope astatine the aforesaid time,” but similar a pre-prepared cognition with a organisation of roles.
Police detained 8 people – six men and two women. The archetypal arrests were made soon aft the robbery; according to ERTthe cognition became 1 of the fastest successful operations Office for Combating Organized Crime (Office for Combating Organized Crime) successful caller years: the suspects were recovered and detained astir 4 hours aft the raid.
Grenades, Kalashnikov and pistols
Representative ΕΛΑΣ Constantia Dimoglidou stated that the archetypal 5 detainees were recovered with dense weapons. According to her, they had grenades, pistols, submachine guns and weapons with cartridges successful the chamber.
According to Dnewsduring the cognition a instrumentality weapon of the type was seized Kalashnikovsubmachine weapon type Scorpionpistols, manus grenades, ample quantities of ammunition, magazines, detonators, assemblage armor, wigs, mendacious beards, fake licence plates, tools and astir the full magnitude stolen successful Kato Titorea.
According to police, the radical could run arsenic an organized transgression structure with astatine slightest 2022. The probe links her to slope robberies successful Attica and regions, including Papagu, Galatsi, Nea-Chalcedon, Nea-Ionia, Egiru Achaia And Katohi successful Aetolia-Acarnania.
Not lone Titorea
According to the investigation, the radical whitethorn beryllium progressive successful astatine slightest 11 equipped slope robberiesone effort to hack an ATM, 11 motorcycle thefts And 4 αυτοκίνητο thefts. The total payment from transgression activity, according to preliminary estimates, exceeds 483,000 euros.
Separately, it is checked where the wealth went and whether the radical is connected with different transgression areas. The typical of ΕΛΑΣ noted that astatine this stage nary information has been identified indicating a transportation betwixt the detainees and home terrorism, but this enactment has not been wholly ruled retired and will beryllium checked arsenic portion of the fiscal investigation.
The detainees are successful Police Headquarters of Attica, ΓΑΔΑ). They are aged from 24 to 33 years old; According to the police, some of them had antecedently travel to the attraction of the authorities successful various cases.
Possible ideological trail is being checked
A abstracted contented is the imaginable connections of some of the detainees with anarchists. According to Parapolitikaamong the defendants there are persons who came into interaction with anti-authoritarian spaceand the instrumentality recovered during searches, including detonators, forces investigators to analyse a wider scope of imaginable connections.
At the aforesaid time, the typical ΕΛΑΣ Constantia Dimoglidou stated that astatine this stage the transportation betwixt the robbery and terrorism has not been confirmed. According to her, some of the detainees had antecedently travel to the attraction of State securitybut not Anti-terrorist service.
In different words, a version of a imaginable ideological inheritance exists, but remains subject to verification. For Greece, such a enactment does not look fantastic: the country’s past knows cases when equipped raids were used by extremist groups arsenic a source of financing. But successful the peculiar Kato-Titorea case, investigators person yet to beryllium whether the wealth was simply transgression loot oregon portion of a wider network.
Editorial comment
History successful Kato Titorea shows that it is not astir “young robbers”, but astir a well-armed and trained groupwhich operated with reconnaissance, camouflage, changing vehicles and heavy weapons. The bully quality is that ΕΛΑΣ worked quickly. The atrocious happening is that such a radical could travel astir the state for years with grenades, instrumentality guns and submachine guns, until the adjacent slope became its last.
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