Afət Ziyadqızı
Cocaine has been found hidden inside bouquets of roses shipped from Colombia to Greece.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the drug network first sent the flowers to Canada before forwarding them to Greece in an apparent effort to avoid the risks of direct transportation.
The suspects allegedly prepared new shipping documents in Canada and listed a fake flower shop rented shortly before the operation in Artemida, in the Attica region, as the cargo recipient.
Authorities found that 80 boxes containing roses had been transported and that cocaine was concealed in 11 bouquets, each consisting of 40 roses.
The upper parts of the flowers were natural-looking, while the stems were made of plastic. The narcotics were hidden inside the stems.
Authorities said the method was intended to make it easier to pass the drugs through customs inspections.
The operation was conducted based on information obtained from the Athens office of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Officers from the operations unit, special forces and the Organized Crime Division carried out simultaneous raids at the fake flower shop in Artemida and a rented villa in Marathon.
Seven of the nine suspects were detained during the operation.
Investigators determined that the suspects had been storing and processing the drugs at the villa.
One of the detained network leaders was also found to be wanted by Albanian law enforcement authorities on murder charges.
Efforts to apprehend the other two suspects are continuing.
The operation was named “Flowers of Evil.”
Drug trafficking networks frequently use commercial cargo and concealment techniques to evade customs controls. International cooperation between law enforcement agencies, including the exchange of intelligence and coordinated raids, is often central to such investigations.
