Record number of Captagon pills seized from in-transit containers at Piraeus

Greek authorities seized over 10 million pills of Captagon, one of the largest shipments of drugs on European level and the highest ever in Greece, hidden in one of three containers at the port of Piraeus.

The sweep included the Finance Ministry's financial crime unit (SDOE), the Hellenic Police and the Greek Port Authority. SDOE said it collaborated with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) representatives at the US embassy in Athens.

Authorities found three containers from Latakia, Syria at Piraeus in transit to China, each carrying 20 pallets of Medium-density fibreboard (MDF). Investigation revealed they had a hidden shipment of Captagon, an illegally manufactured drug media reports say is used by jihadis. Investigation of one container yielded a total of 10,018,260 pills weighing 1,590 kilos.

The time-consuming extraction of the hidden pills from the other two containers is ongoing, with authorities expecting to have cleared the second container by this weekend. Investigation on the unknown people involved in the shipment are ongoing.