24 thousand bullets from Albania to Crete: How was the criminal network destroyed by the Greek police?

A criminal network made up of elderly people – including a 73-year-old, a 72-year-old and a 65-year-old “boss” – has been busted by Greek police after a spectacular operation in Crete and northern Greece. The organisation, which had set up a sophisticated scheme to smuggle ammunition from Albania, operated with military discipline and made huge profits.

According to Prothothema , the network had been active since at least April 2025 and aimed to import and sell ammunition on the black market in Crete, using a truck registered in the name of a deceased person. The ammunition was smuggled into Greece through a special compartment built inside the truck.

In total, 24,126 rounds of ammunition, one combat rifle and several vehicles, including a motorcycle used for "VIP" distribution of ammunition, were seized during the operation.

How did the network work?

The 65-year-old , the "brains" of the operation, collected orders and distributed the ammunition by motorbike in Crete. He had previously been arrested in 2019 for arms trafficking.

The 72-year-old had built a hideout inside the truck and was driving the vehicle to the border.

The 73-year-old was the truck driver for the long segment to Crete.

The 41-year-old Albanian was responsible for securing and delivering ammunition from Albania.

The 30-year-old arrested in Crete was a regular customer – another link in the distribution network.

The suspects traveled secretly, deactivating their mobile phones, using forged documents, and ferry tickets with false identities, to avoid any pursuit by the authorities.

The spectacular end of the "death truck"

The three members of the organization were arrested in Crete, in flagrante delicto, as they had just received the next shipment from the border. At the same time, in another corner of Greece – in Kostur – Greek officers handcuffed the 41-year-old Albanian.

The operation has been described by the police as one of the most sophisticated in recent years in the field of ammunition and light weapons trafficking, with particular emphasis on the Albania-Greece cross-border connections.

Authorities are searching for the Albanian supplier and are further investigating whether the cartridges were used or destined for criminal organizations in Crete or beyond.