Greece’s coast guard has arrested a 21-year-old man on drug possession and trafficking charges after seizing more than 10 kilograms of cannabis aboard a ferry at the port of Piraeus, the country’s largest passenger harbor and the main gateway to the Aegean islands.
Officers from the coast guard’s narcotics unit, working with detection dogs Toby and Kelly, spotted the suspect boarding a ferry shortly before it was due to sail. After keeping him under discreet surveillance, they searched the man and his belongings.
Inside a backpack and a piece of luggage in the ship’s lounge, officers found five airtight plastic packages containing raw cannabis, known as skunk, with a combined gross weight of about 5.4 kilograms. A further search, carried out with officers from the port authority on the island of Syros, turned up a second bag belonging to the same passenger. Prompted by one of the detection dogs, officers found another five packages of skunk weighing roughly 5.3 kilograms.
In total, authorities seized about 10.7 kilograms of cannabis, valued at around 33,000 euros. Officers also confiscated a mobile phone and a passenger ticket bound for the island of Kos.
The drugs were handed to the narcotics unit at the Central Port Authority of Piraeus, which is leading the preliminary investigation, and will be sent to the State General Chemistry Laboratory for further analysis.
