Six Albanians caught with 50m euros worth of cocaine in Greece

Aleknsandër Pema and his friends in prison in Greece

 Greek police have uncovered the activity of the international cocaine trafficking organization, whose members were arrested Saturday morning at a place called Astakos in Greece's Mesology.

During a press statement Saturday evening, top Hellenic police officials said the destruction of this criminal organization gave a severe hit to cocaine trafficking in the Balkans.

The apartment where the cocaine is found by Police

According to Greek police sources, the organization's 41-year-old head, Aleksander Pemaj, is a well-known name in the world of Albanian crime in Greece.

According to police, Pemaj has also been in prison at other times, even if he has been convicted several times of justice for extremely serious offenses.

Aleksandër Pema in prison in Greece

He was a member of Marian Kolaj's gang, a fugitive from Greek prisons who was executed by Greek police during an armed clash near the Albanian border.

The Attica police chief said investigations into the organization had been underway for at least six months, following information received from US authorities of DEA that a large amount of drugs would be sent from the Dominican Republic to Greece, and would then distributed in Albania and Spain.

After identifying the suspects, Greek police, in collaboration with the Spanish, Albanian and Greek customs authorities, put them under surveillance 24 hours a day.

Second from left Aleksandër Pema while in prison in Greece

In addition to the eight arrested, some Albanian and Arab nationals have also been identified, who, although currently identified, have not yet been arrested.

Investigations showed that the payment for the drug was distanced from an Arab citizen, who is considered to be one of the leaders of the organization, while the payment was made through the bank by an Albanian citizen residing in Albania, who also guaranteed payment installments, but even the justification to the bank, pretending to be a merchant and were payments for trade goods imported from abroad.

Two collaborators of Aleksandër Pema

Greek police say members of the organization were taking measures not to intercept them, but the methods used by law enforcement agencies were extremely effective.

During the final phase, authorities waited for the cargo to be loaded into the apartment located by police officers, and all its members in Greece were immediately arrested in flash actions in several Athens neighborhoods.

All of those arrested were wanted by the police also for other criminal events, and they even have served sentences in Greek prisons.

In the quality of the material prove police found 1181kg of pure cocaine, valued at over 50,000,000 euros, 231,000 euros in cash, 3 pistols, 1 Kalashnikov, 5 cars and 19 mobile phones.

The Greek police chief said investigations will continue, with further arrests expected in Greece, Albania and Spain.

The names of Albanian detainees from the action are as follows:

SANDËR PEMA

ARBËR PËRDEDA

ERGON TUSI

ERLIN ZOTAJ

LEK DODA

MAKSIM PREÇI.

Sandër Pema and Maksim Preçi are cousins ​​from the same village.