Two Turkish nationals wanted on several arrest warrants and a Red Notice from Türkiye, aged 31 and 42 years old, respectively, were arrested in Greece as suspected members of a gang linked to a recent shooting on Greek intelligence service (EYP) agents, police announced Saturday.
The two were arrested on Friday, during a coordinated police operation in Attica and Northern Greece, in which seven more Turkish nationals were arrested and another 12 detained. Nine homes in Attica, Thessaloniki and Halkidiki were searched. The 31-year-old, for whom five arrest warrants have been issued in Turkiye, was arrested in Halkidiki, while the 42-year-old is the subject of a Red Notice issued by Turkiye for a murder committed in 2017 and was arrested in Paleo Faliro, Attica.
The operation was set up based on specific information regarding the movements of the Turkish criminal gang in Greece and involved a number of police departments and units.
The 31-year-old, identified with the initials A.K. has already been taken to Diavata Prison on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the Thessaloniki appeals prosecutor and he is to stand trial for abductions, damage to property, inflicting injuries, the purchase, transportation and possession of weapons and ammunition and threats made at gunpoint, all of which are also crimes under Greek law. Police believe he is part of a Turkish gang engaged in a 'war' against a local gang in Greece, which has left several people dead, and which was also behind the shooting of Greek EYP officers a month ago.
The 42-year-old, identified as T.A.P., is wanted as an accomplice in the murder of an Istanbul shop owner in 2017 involving four individuals. After the incident he came to Greece, where he posed as a business person living a luxury lifestyle.