eKathimerini /Seatrade Maritime News — A shipowner accused of smuggling 2 tons of heroin into Greece on the Noor 1 cargo ship in June 2014, on Monday told the court hearing the case that he accepts some culpability but was not responsible for the shipment.
“I admit that I am not innocent,” the suspect, identified by his initials M.G., told the Piraeus Criminal Appeals Court on Monday. “I agreed to do the shipping side of things but said I would have nothing to do with the drugs,” he added.
M.G. said that the smuggling of the narcotics was arranged by a broker, identified as G.B., who had allegedly asked him to use the Noor 1 for the same purpose in the past as well.
The shipowner, who is being held in pretrial custody, also said that the 500 kilograms of the drug found by police in a storage room in his home in the affluent suburb of Filothei had been transported there by the property’s caretaker.
A total of 33 people are on trial in connection with the case.
The largest find of heroin ever made in Greece
In June 2014, Greek coast guard and police working with the US Drugs Enforcement Agency have discovered around two tonnes of heroin hidden in warehouses and private homes with a street value of over EUR400m ($543m).
The drugs were smuggled into Greece from Afghanistan, Iran and by sea, with two of the 22 people arrested by 21 June described as shipowners.
A 40-year-old Greek businessman said to be operating gas carriers out of Dubai, his former wife, her friend, five Turkish nationals and an Albanian national were remanded in custody on 17 and 18 June 2014 in relation to the seizure of the largest find of heroin ever made in Greece. The shipowner, was named in the media at the time, though a search of shipping data has failed to connect him with the industry locally.
Half a tonne of heroin was found in the ship owners’ Filothei, Athens, luxury home and half a tonne was found in a warehouse in Koropi, eastern Attica, near Athens international airport. The drugs were packaged in 443 plastic bales.
According to reports, the suspect and others were believed to be involved in the case are featured on the so-called Lagarde list of Greeks with deposits at the Geneva branch of HSBC that is being investigated for massive tax evasion.
Noor 1, built 1967, Togo-flag, is owned by the one-ship company, Axia Shiptrading SA based in an area near Piraeus.
It was said the drug was meant to be taken by truck from Greece to markets around Europe. At least one truck with specially-built compartments has been found in a truck yard in Schistos, the industrial zone west of Piraeus.
