How the terrorists were to strike

The billionaire ship-owner and owner of the Olympiacos Football Club, Vangelis Marinakis, the president of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) Theodoros Fessas and the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Theodoros Veniamis were among the extremist’s targets according to high-ranking police officials.

The plots were allegedly being planned by the group Revolutionary Struggle with the potential involvement of the Team of Peoples’ Fighters. Police believe that prior to the strikes against the business community, the extremists were planning to strike the offices of New Democracy with a ‘mega-bomb’ on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the party on the 4th of October.

According to an anti-terrorism police official there was to be a “barrage of bomb attacks targeting shipowners, industrialists and companies in the port of Piraeus.” Police maintain that the plot may have been disrupted as little as 48 hours before the first strike was to take place.

Yesterday a young man was arrested outside a garage in the Athens neighborhood of Vyronas which is believed to have been used by the militants. While the young man has refused to cooperate with police and identify himself, police found in his possession handwritten notes that appear to provide details of the plot. In the garage one of Nikos Maziotis’s fingerprints was also said to have been found on the leasing contract for the garage which had been signed in June 2013 using a stolen identity.

Nikos Maziotis is believed to be the ring-leader of the left wing extremist group, Revolutionary Struggle. He and his wife were convicted in absentia on terrorism charges after fleeing police following their release from pretrial custody. He was eventually re-arrested after a gun battle with police in July during which Maziotis was injured. 

Police say that they are still unsure of the true identity of the young man, but believe that he was involved in the bomb attack outside the Bank of Greece in the center of Athens on the 10th of April, 2014. That attack, believed to be planned by Maziotis, had been preceded by a warning phone call and there were no serious injuries although there were extensive damages from the powerful blast. They also believe that the young man participated in armed robberies and in earlier attacks perpetrated by the Team of People’s Fighters against New Democracy offices and against the residence of the German Ambassador.

The man is believed to be between 25 and 30 years old, is described as being athletically fit and has a 'hard' stance towards police. From his fingerprints he does not appear to have any prior run-ins with the law, while police have requested court permission to release his photograph to appeal for information regarding his identity. The young man has refused to provide details of his identity either to police or to the Prosecutor in what police say is an attempt to delay their investigations. Indeed police are concerned that a potential terror attack may still be imminent as they have not discovered the explosives, weapons or other co-conspirators of Nikos Maziotis.

In the handwritten notes which police say appear to have been freshly written, there are maps of the port of Piraeus, sketches of residences, offices and other information regarding the potential targets which appear to have been obtained by scouting locations and following the potential targets.

In particular it appears that on the 1st and 2nd of October, the group surveyed the offices of the shipowner Vangelis Marinakis and SEV President, Theodoes Fessas. Other notes refer to a ‘dress rehearsal’ on the 3rd of October and a strike on the 4th of October. “Taxi, tupperware, bicycles, detonation device, sausages,” one note reads. The term ‘sausages’ according to the Chief of Police Dimitris Tsaknakis, may refer to oxygen-acetylene canisters, or other explosives.

Elsewhere there is a note that explicitly refers to the need to purchase oxygen and acetylene canisters. The police chief noted that the mixture of the two can produce a powerful explosion. The notes include newspaper clippings and adverts for stores selling chemical products and specifically acetylene.

According to police sources, it appears that following the arrest of Nikos Maziotis, the remaining members of Revolutionary Struggle were unable to access the group's weapons cache. One explanation is that they were unaware of its location with only Maziotis himself able to access it. Their inability to source or produce the fertilizer-based explosives (ANFO) that police believe the group had already stockpiled at the weapons cache may have led the extremists to alternative bomb designs. “Because they did not have ANFO or they could not make the mix, the perhaps thought of replacing it with canisters of oxygen and acetylene, which they would have detonated with remote controlled bombs that they knew how to build,” police sources said.

According to police sources, the garage belongs to a doctor who had unwittingly rented it to the extremist group. In late September the doctor became suspicious when he visited the area and noticed the garage was shut. He entered a nearby café and asked if its renter ever showed up to which he was given a negative response. He then began to suspect that those renting it may be involved in illegal activities and called the police.

It was soon discovered that a stolen identity had been used to sign the lease agreements. Police then showed mug shots to the doctor who fingered Nikos Maziotis as the person to whom he had rented the garage.

In the garage police also found a makeshift roof-rack as well as keys to a Nissan Sunny. A stolen Nissan Sunny had been used in the April bomb attack against the National Bank of Greece. They communicated with the owner of that car and he positively identified the roof rack as his.

Police then outfitted the garage with hidden cameras and placed the area under surveillance. On Wednesday afternoon the young man approached the garage and used the remote control to open it. At that point police moved in to arrest the young man who resisted violently. Upon subduing him police found that was ‘clean’ without a mobile phone or bank or credit cards. The man was carrying a backpack in which police found the treasure trove of information regarding the bomb plots.

The young man faces a number of charges including being a member of a terrorist organization, theft, and explosives charges.