The police are baffled by a mysterious “raid” that took place in Exarchia Square on Friday night, when a group of armed men appeared and appear to have kidnapped or removed a number of people.
The unknown group posted a statement on the Athens Indymedia website, explaining that they would not tolerate “hostile behavior towards the area’s politicized people, its residents, activist spaces and hangouts” and referred to “the actions of gangs and mafias”.
In recent years the police presence and patrols in the troubled Exarchia area have waned, thus allowing criminal gangs to establish themselves in the area. The police believe that Friday’s operation was the result of an ongoing conflict between the Albanian mafia, which is prominent in drug dealing, and groups of anarchists.
