Two arrests ordered

A Piraeus court judge has ordered the arrest of two Turkish citizens in connection to the Noor 1 drug smuggling case. The men have been accused of financing the attempt to smuggle some 2 tons of heroin into Greece on board the Noor 1 cargo ship in 2014. According to testimony given by shipowner Makis Yianoussakis in 2015 and then repeated in 2017, the two Turks, identified only as Gamal and Alex, are the ones who put up the money for the operation. Yianoussakis, who is serving a jail sentence for his part in the drug ring, also provided a 16-second video of discussions with the two suspects to back up his claims.

Karamanlis ‘plot.’

Four people have been called to stand trial in connection with an alleged plot to spy on former Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis when he was in office. A former CIA official named as William Basil has been charged with attempted espionage. Two employees of the Greek National Intelligence Service (EYP) face charges of divulging state secrets. Former PASOK MP and minister Michalis Karchimakis has also been charged with leaking state secrets following an investigation in connection with wiretapping cases and an alleged 2008 plot against the then-conservative premier. Karchimakis denies that he was involved in any plot. The probe into the affair was linked to claims regarding an alleged plot to thwart efforts by Karamanlis to improve energy relations with Russia. Charges were brought against unknown suspects in March 2012 following press reports about a Russian document revealing the plot and came after testimony from Greek secret service agents, police and Karamanlis’s security guards.