Thessaloniki prosecutor seeks detention of two suspects tied to Turkish mafia arms cache

Prosecutor appeals release order

An appeals prosecutor in Thessaloniki filed a formal legal challenge against a judicial order that released two men accused of transporting heavy weaponry on restrictive conditions. The prosecutor requested a full re-examination of the judicial ruling and demanded the immediate pre-trial detention of both suspects. The case file is scheduled for review before the Thessaloniki Appeals Judicial Council, which holds the legal authority to determine whether the men should be remanded into custody. According to the legal reasoning presented in the appeal, the nature and specific circumstances of the alleged offences demonstrate a clear risk that the defendants would commit similar felonies if they remain at liberty. If the Appeals Judicial Council approves the prosecutor's petition, the prior ruling granting conditional release will be revoked, and authorities will issue orders for their arrest and detention.

Police operation and weapons cache

The arrests took place in Sykies, a district in Thessaloniki, following an operation conducted by the Sub-Directorate for Combating Organised Crime of Northern Greece. Police officers monitoring the area spotted the two men exiting a ground-floor commercial storage facility while carrying packages. Upon inspecting the parcels, law enforcement officers recovered a heavy weapons cache that included a military sniper rifle equipped with an optical scope, an Uzi submachine gun, multiple ammunition magazines, and live rounds. Following the seizure, authorities charged the two men with aggravated weapons possession and participation in a criminal gang.

Links to Turkish gang conflict

Law enforcement officials assess that the heavy weapons were assembled to support an armed confrontation between rival Turkish organised crime syndicates. During questioning, the 36-year-old Turkish defendant confessed that the seized firearms were destined for delivery to members of the Turkish mafia group known as the Daltons. Greek investigative authorities who tracked the movement of the suspects believe the firearms were being moved either to change storage locations or to be handed over to a sniper for an impending attack. A third individual, a 49-year-old Turkish citizen currently incarcerated in a Greek prison, was named in the case file as the instigator of the weapons transfer. The 49-year-old is also subject to an international Red Notice issued by Turkish authorities for computer fraud.

Suspect statements and court review

During their depositions before the Thessaloniki investigating magistrate, both suspects rejected the charges against them. The 36-year-old claimed that the imprisoned 49-year-old compatriot had issued threats against him, forcing him to find a secure location to store the weapons cache and leading him to contact the 30-year-old Greek national. For his part, the 30-year-old claimed that he owned the storage facility but remained completely unaware of what was inside the packages, asserting that he agreed to store them purely as a favour. Following their initial depositions on Thursday, the investigating magistrate permitted both defendants to walk free under restrictive terms, a ruling the appeals prosecutor has now moved to overturn.