After a very carefully planned investigation that lasted several days, the authorities succeeded in arresting the foreigner, who accused of being a leading member of an international oil smuggling ring.

The man was located in Varkiza by police officers of the Sub-Directorate of File and Identity Searches of the Attica Security Directorate.

According to information, a luxurious villa in Vari was his hideout.

As stated in a statement by ELAS, according to the red notice issued by INTERPOL and with information from foreign Authorities, the foreigner was a leading member of the organization, which was active in the smuggling of petroleum products internationally.

The organization in question, as the owner of tankers, under the cover of legitimate shipping companies, loaded oil products from Latin American ports and achieved their appropriation during their transport, using tricks.

In particular, they procured satellite relay and identification devices from decommissioned ships in Asian ports, placed them on their tankers, and deactivated them during transport, managing to deceive charterers.

Subsequently, the above-mentioned tankers, carrying oil products, disabled the above systems, so that the members of the organization could appropriate the cargo, deceiving the charterers.

From its action, the above-mentioned Criminal Organization obtained a huge financial benefit, damaging both the charterers of the “legitimate” shipping company, as well as the ports visited by its tankers.

The organization’s illegal financial gain is estimated to exceed US$21 billion, harming both charterers and their governments.

This is a major corruption scandal that seems to involve, among others, a state-owned oil company as well as senior Latin American officials, has sparked the interest of several United States federal agencies, which are gathering more and more information about the case

According to the foreign press, judicial sources estimate that one of the main people responsible for the embezzlement of the resulting money is the arrested person, who normally operates as a freight broker.

He was taken to the competent prosecution authority while he will be transferred to the Athens Appeals Prosecutor’s Office on 04/01/2024.

The arrested person led an ultra-luxurious life, he lived with his family in a spacious residence in the southern suburbs of Attica, while he drove around in a number of ultra-luxurious cars.