Hellenic Police - ELAS report: 53% of thefts and burglaries are committed by Roma

Crimes against property constitute a key activity in the so-called "petty crime", since it is generally not considered serious crime, but it increases the insecurity index of citizens. In fact, the recent report analyzing statistical data from 2023 shows a halt in the downward trend in property crimes recorded in 2020-2021, mainly due to the measures to restrict the movement of citizens due to the coronavirus at that time, and we are returning to approximately the levels of 2019.In 2023, there were 62,868 thefts, 2,781 burglaries and 19,223 vehicle thefts. Organized criminal groups are responsible for a portion of these (10% for robberies, 4% for thefts-burglaries and 2% for vehicle thefts). However, as the report points out, “this percentage concerns verified cases-crimes. It is estimated that this percentage is likely to be considerably higher, as in several cases it becomes difficult for law enforcement authorities to link criminals to criminal groups due to a lack of sufficient evidence. "And probably, we add, there are criminal groups that were not possible to dismantle by the police and other competent authorities. The estimated profit of the criminals was at least 18,117,500 euros.In 2023, a greater targeting was observed in homes (44.85% of the total), in shops-businesses (18.85% of the total), in vehicles (16.56% of the total, with a large number of thefts of spare parts from private vehicles), in public places (10.46% of the total). The remaining 9.27% of the total concerns various thefts, mainly of various types of metal objects.Gangs dismantled

In 2023, the Hellenic Police dismantled 194 criminal groups. They consisted of a total of 962 members. Most of them (131) were "engaged" in thefts-burglaries, 39 in robberies and 24 in thefts of wheeled vehicles. The criminal groups were mostly domestic (65.46% of the total) and homogeneous (72% of the total). According to the Hellenic Police, homogeneous etc. criminal organizations are those in which the vast majority of their members have the same nationality.A heterogeneous or heterogeneous criminal group is one in which, unlike a homogeneous one, its members have different nationalities. An indigenous criminal group is one in which the vast majority of its members have Greek citizenship. A non-indigenous criminal group is one in which, unlike a domestic one, its members do not have Greek citizenship. A mixed indigenous and non-indigenous criminal group is one in which approximately half of its members have Greek citizenship and the other half do not.According to the official data of the Hellenic Police on criminal organizations, it is found that “the majority of domestic groups (70% of the total) concerned groups with Roma members”.In simple words, this means that of the 194 criminal organizations dismantled by the Hellenic Police.

in 2023, about 125 (65.46% of them) were domestic. 70% of these 125 organizations, about 88, had Roma members.As the Hellenic Police emphasizes, there are probably other crimes committed by these organizations, but there is no evidence. 29.53% of the criminal groups are also involved in other illegal acts: drug trafficking, forgery and money laundering (19.69% of the total).But which countries do the members of these criminal organizations come from? The main ones are: Greece, Albania, Georgia, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Serbia, Syria, Algeria, Armenia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Russia.Burglaries

In the criminal theft-burglary groups, domestic ones play the main role (66.41% of the total), followed by foreign ones (23.66% of the total), while a percentage of 9.93% is "mixed" (domestic and foreign).Among foreign groups, Albanians are dominant with 60.98% of the total, followed by Georgians (9.76% of the total), Romanians (7.32%) and Pakistanis (4.88%). They are followed by criminal groups from Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Spain, Colombia, Kosovo and Cuba with 2.44% each.“In Greek groups, groups with an overwhelming majority of Roma members (81% of domestic groups) are dominant.” Finally, among Greek groups, “a small percentage (1% of the total) of criminal groups with members from the former USSR countries are also detected.”The choice of targets of criminal groups is of particular interest: in the theft-burglary sector: homes at a rate of 55.99% of the total, businesses at a rate of 19.07% of the total (mainly supermarkets, mini markets, convenience stores and kiosks, gas stations, pharmacies, bakeries, gambling shops, etc.), public spaces and on the street at a rate of 12.08% of the total (mainly against tourists, public transport passengers, the elderly, immigrants, etc.) and metal objects at a rate of 8.67% of the total (mainly thefts of metals from companies, transformers, catalytic converters of private cars, etc.).
The report then describes in detail the activities of the criminal theft-burglary groups and concludes with the extremely interesting fact that, as it was verified, the members of these groups had a criminal past in their majority, specifically 75.18%.Who uses violence

In the criminal robbery groups, the Greek ones have a dominant role (76.32% of all groups were composed in their overwhelming majority of Greeks). “Here too, the participation of Roma individuals continues to be strong (54.05% of all members of the domestic groups were composed of Roma members). Additionally, in the groups of Greek origin, there is also participation of expatriates from countries of the former USSR (12.96%), but to a lesser extent than the Roma.”

Among foreign groups, Albanians dominate (73.78%), followed by Serbians and Iraqis (11.11% each).These groups are usually small in number (86.84% of them had up to five members) and only 13.16% had between six and twelve members. Members of these groups often inflict injuries on their victims in order to reveal possible hiding places of money and valuables. The violence is mainly physical (in 49.82% of cases), but often also includes threats using pistols, knives, screwdrivers, electric discharge devices, etc. As was found, 63.51% of the members of these groups who were arrested had a criminal past.Finally, in terms of criminal groups that steal and traffic wheeled vehicles: The dominant position is held by Greek domestic groups (62.50%), "with the participation of Roma groups at a lower rate (27.82%) compared to other crimes against property". There is also the participation of expatriates from countries of the former USSR (mainly Kazakhstan and Russia), at a rate of 6.82%. As for foreigners involved in vehicle thefts, the first are Albanians (48% of all foreigners) and followed by citizens of North Macedonia (24% of all foreigners), Syria (12% of all), Georgia (8%), Iraq and Ukraine (4% of all each).87.50% of the groups had up to five members and only 12.50% from six to twelve members. As was found, 54.13% of all members of these criminal groups had a criminal past (mainly in property crimes).

The majority of the groups (76.40%) are involved in thefts of private cars. This is followed by thefts of electric scooters (7.87%), mopeds and motorcycles (7.12%), private cars and light commercial vehicles (also 7.12%) and, finally, thefts of construction machinery and their spare parts (1.50%). Of particular interest is the fact that 70.83% of those arrested for vehicle thefts have excellent know-how so that, by using special software and laptops, they can neutralize the immobilizers and GPS systems of vehicles.Criminal groups that steal vehicles have a large network of collaborators (body shops, scrapyards, forgers, etc.) thanks to whom they alter the details of a vehicle or dismantle it and sell it for spare parts. According to the Hellenic Police report, the stolen vehicles are either trafficked intact, driven by members of the groups (accompanied by fake licenses and license plates and/or falsified chassis numbers) to other countries (Republic of North Macedonia, Turkey, Middle Eastern countries, Albania, France), or they are cut up and trafficked as spare parts on the domestic and international market (mainly Greece and Albania) in trucks (usually accompanied by fake registration documents and/or goods documents).