In March, officials in northwest Greece claimed they detained a police officer on duty for narcotics charges. The officer was accused of smuggling marijuana in his service vehicle.
Reports indicate that after a high-speed pursuit, the suspect and an unidentified Albanian national were apprehended in the port city of Igoumenitsa.
Despite his colleagues’ demands to stop for a search, the officer allegedly raced away, losing his grip on the vehicle and smashing into parked automobiles before finally coming to a stop.
The police car was not marked. Police reported that 225 lbs of marijuana was found during the search of the vehicle.
Another officer, who had been out on patrol with the suspect but was reportedly discovered at a cafe 12 miles away, was also apprehended by the police. Drug charges were leveled against all three individuals.
Large amounts of marijuana are illegally brought into Greece via the Igoumenitsa region, which is close to the border with Albania.
According to a report, drug trafficking in Greece has far-reaching and complex effects. Heroin traffickers use Greece as a hub, with local and multinational organized criminal gangs working together.
There has been a recent uptick in the marine trafficking of cocaine using ports in the country, including Piraeus and Thessaloniki. Furthermore, Greeks and Albanians dominate different parts of the cannabis trade, and Greece is a transit country as well as a source and destination for the drug.
There is a rise in the domestic demand for synthetic narcotics among tourists and Greek college students, which contributes to their trafficking across Greece.
The severity of the consequences for drug possession in Greece might vary according to the specific case.
A fine of up to five months’ jail time is possible for narcotics possession. If the court determines that the drug user’s actions were isolated and not likely to occur again, they might decide not to impose punishment.
The trial and prosecution of a drug user who is addicted and requests treatment may be stayed. There is no difference in the punishment for drug possession depending on the kind of substance, and criminals who have become addicted to drugs may go unpunished.