Greek Escobar tried for drug boat with more than 5 tons of cocaine

Five people have been arrested in the case, while five more are expected to be arrested. More specifically, the first were arrested in Greece, while the second - who were on the boat - are in custody and will be arrested.

Undoubtedly, the person who stands out among the defendants is the alleged owner of the drug boat, who in the past was nicknamed the "Greek Escobar". And this is because he was arrested as the "brain" of the largest cocaine ring that ever operated in Greece.

It was the summer of 2004, when the news broke that a ship named “Africa 1” was detected by the Spanish authorities to have 5.4 tons of cocaine in its holds, the value of which today exceeds 500,000,000 euros!

The ship departed from Piraeus on May 15, 2004 with a declared destination of Turkey. However, the law enforcement authorities of Greece and other European countries, who had been closely monitoring every move of the “Greek Escobar”, located his boat via satellite moving in the Atlantic Ocean towards the western coast of Africa.

On July 13, the Spanish authorities raided the “Africa 1”, where they found the cocaine. The drugs were packed in cardboard boxes labeled as mineral water.

In August 2004, the drug dealer was located in Stuttgart, Germany, and arrested. From the moment he fell into the hands of the prosecuting authorities, he claimed that he had nothing to do with it. However, he failed to convince. In the first instance, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Five-Member Criminal Appeals Court of Piraeus, however, converted the life sentence into 22 years in prison.