Five arrested in F-gas smuggling swoop

GREECE: Five members of a criminal organisation have been arrested in Greece on suspicion of illegally importing and trafficking large quantities HFC refrigerant from Albania to Greece.

Police in Kastoria, northern Greece, seized 234 cylinders containing a total of 2,418kg of refrigerant, valued at €82,237. Two vehicles, five mobile phones and sums of €785 and 8,200 Albanian lek were also seized.

The refrigerant seized lacked the appropriate certifications and avoided payment of the corresponding customs and tax charges.

Those arrested were three foreigners, aged 38, 41 and 43, and two Greeks, a 41-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman. Efforts are underway to find two more foreign members of the organisation – the gang leader who organised the illegal imports and their further distribution, and the person who illegally imported the aforementioned bottles from Albania into Greece and temporarily hid them near the Greek-Albanian border.

After illegally importing the bottles into the country, the members of the organisation are said to have further trafficked them into Greek territory, with the aim of selling them. A criminal case was also filed against them for smuggling in violation of the national customs code, within the framework of a criminal organisation, as well as for violation of criminal environmental protection.