Two arrested for illegal HFC shipment
27th July 2020
GREECE: Two Greek nationals were arrested on Saturday (July 25) after being found driving a truck with 30 illegal bottles of HFC refrigerant.
The two “60-year-old locals” are being investigated for allegedly illegally importing the refrigerant. They were arrested in Kastoria, northern Greece, near the border with Albania in a truck without state licence plates.
Police photographs have obscured all the cylinder marks but it can be seen that they are illegal non-refillables. The cylinder colours indicate 25 cylinders of R404A and five cylinders of R410A, totalling 329kg.
Investigations by police drug prosecution officers revealed that the two individuals had jointly imported/received the bottles, from an unprotected crossing of the Greek-Albanian border. They lacked import documentation and customs clearance.
Again, the authorities make no mention of violations of the European F-gas regulations. The seized cylinders are quite obviously non-refillables – a cylinder banned in Europe since 2007 – nor is there any indication whether this shipment was made under the European quota system.
Police say they are conducting a preliminary investigation into the case, while the case against them will be submitted to the Prosecutor of the Court of First Instance of Kastoria.
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