The police investigating the drug cartel that imported 2.1 tons of heroin into Greece are focusing their efforts on five suspects arrested during the Coast Guard’s operations.
The major suspects are the 41-year-old ship-owner Efthimios Giannousakis, the 52-year-old “charterer” of the Noor One, the 62-year-old captain who resides in Dubai and is believed to have directed the ship’s course, the 56-year-old who appears to have managed the ship through his wife’s name and a businessman who used to be involved in the ship’s former owners and is thought to have brought all implicated parties together.
All five suspects have offered contradicting testimonies regarding their implication; Giannousakis claims to not have had any significant role in the Noor One’s trip and was only aware that that ship was to be delivered to the 52-year-old chartered. He has also argued that the heroin recovered from his home in Philothei came from a deal that his Albanian assistant made.
The charterer, who appears to have made a down payment of 100,000 euros for the Noor One’s trip from the Persian Gulf to Greece, claims to have had no idea about heroin being transferred. The 62-year-old captain had told authorities that he simply facilitated the ship’s supplies and trip to Greece. He also denies contacting the ship’s Indian captain and argued that another agent based in Dubai was in charge when the ship was loaded.
The 56-year-old man has stated that he is the Noor One’s true owner, that he was informed of the ship’s trip to Greece from the 62-year-old captain and that he only found out about the heroin shipment after the news broke out in the media. The fifth suspect, who appears to be the link between Giannousakis and the ship owners, has also denied all knowledge of the heroin.
