Authorities in Greece on Friday announced 20 arrests and 10 arrest warrants for members of a ring that imported chemicals with the alleged purpose of adulterating fuels and distilling bootleg alcoholic beverages.
Police said the alleged mastermind of the ring was among the suspects arrested.
The suspects were also slapped with money laundering, weapons and distributing products resulting from crimes.
Two warehouse and production units, were raided by police this week in the industrial district of Aspropyrgos, west of Athens proper, along with a third site used as the offices of a “shell” company created as a legal “façade” for the criminal enterprise. Another six petrol stations were inspected as possible recipients of the adulterated fuel.
The chemicals, mostly classified as solvents, were reportedly imported from neighboring Bulgaria aboard long-haul trucks.
