London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

British men in Greek court over cocaine smuggling

British men in Greek court over cocaine smuggling

Four British men have appeared in court in Greece charged with smuggling almost 300kg of Colombian cocaine, concealed in a shipment of bananas.

The four suspects, from London and Liverpool and aged 38, 45, 48 and 52, were arrested last week at a luxury villa in northern Greece.

Greek police allege two of the men are "leaders of an international drug-trafficking ring".

The men made no comments in court, citing their right to remain silent.

A fifth man is also wanted by the police.

According to police, the drugs were transported first to the southern Italian region of Calabria, before being sent on to the port city of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, where the shipment was seized in a co-ordinated operation by US, Greek and Italian law enforcement officials.

A large amount of cash, a pistol, cartridges and several mobile phones and walkie-talkies were also discovered, police said.

The cocaine, the street value of which is estimated by Greek police at more than €10m (£8.6m), is believed to have been destined for sale in Europe and Australia.

Calabria, where police say the drugs were first transported, is home to the 'Ndrangheta - an Italian mafia which is estimated to control around 80% of Europe's cocaine trade.

Packages allegedly containing cocaine which have been seized by Hellenic Police

The shipment of cocaine was found hidden in boxes of bananas, Greek police say


The police statement did not refer to the group: however, the police said the shipment was aimed in part at the Australian drugs market, where spin-offs of the 'Ndrangheta enjoy an extensive presence.

The 'Ndrangheta was for years seen as the poorer brother of the more infamous Italian organised crime rings: Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Camorra in Naples.

But partly because of successive police crackdowns on the other groups, the 'Ndrangheta has now grown to become the most powerful mafia in Italy.

Its operations here and across the world are thought to be worth around €50m a year.

The four British men arrested in Greece will be remanded in custody.

The wheels of Greece's judicial system run notoriously slowly - and it is expected to be at least a year before the suspects face trial.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
×