March 8, 2026

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Code words “ice cream” and “candy”: how the mafia was encrypted when weapons trading online


Cretan mafia I used Viber and Instagram to trade weapons and drugs. The code words like “sweets” and “tools” hid cartridges and weapons behind them.

Cretan mafia via Viber and Instagram: Weapons under the guise of “tools”, and cannabis in parks for tourists. The police opened the scheme where digital chats replaced traditional “gatherings”.

Ordering weapons through messengers

A major business that received the name in the media “Cretan mafia”revealed the structure that worked according to all the canons of classical organized crime groups: hierarchy, roles, code words and constant feeling of impunity. Group “gunsmiths” I traded ammunition through Viber and Instagram, calling the cartridges “invitations” or “candies”, and machine guns “instruments”. Photos of the goods were sent directly into chats, and transactions were made out for trust.

    Weapons through a smartphone

    Preview

    The case of the so -called “Cretan Mafia” It shows how the classical criminal structure with the hierarchy and “looking” has grown together with digital technologies. Armory Group She traded trunks and cartridges right through Viber and Instagram using code words.

    Wiretapping reveals their communication style:

    Mafia: “Let me get down, give you an invitation?”
    Client: “Whose?”
    Mafia: “I will say at a meeting.”
    Client: “Come on, whose invitations?”
    Mafia: “I said, then.”
    Client: “… nonsense …”
    Mafia: “Well, do we meet in a couple of hours?”
    Client: “Okay.”

    So under the “invitations” hid cartridges. And they called the pistol on the photo on Instagram simply “tools”.

    Mafia: “Instagram, one” tool “…”
    Client: “And why is this” tool “?”
    Mafia: “Well, it’s expensive.”

    “Candy”, “cogs” and “ice cream”

    Sleng reached the point of absurdity. In some conversations, cartridges were called “sweets”, in others – “screws” or “cards”.

    Mafia: “Is this five hundred cogs?”
    Client: “Yes.”
    Mafia: “Okay.”

    In another case, the same defendant left a batch of cartridges in the back seat of someone else’s car:

    Mafia: “Put the back. Just let him not pull – these are seals, they need a refrigerator. ”

    “Street merchants” in Havan

    The second part of the scheme is drugs. Group “Street Dealers” She sold cannabis in Hannia: the Park of Peace and Friendship, the Venetian Harbor and the area of ​​1866. These points became real “sites”, where tourists and local offered grass right away.

    The scheme worked as follows: the “invasions” were caught by customers, the “looking” watched the police, and the couriers on the electric scooters delivered parties. Drugs were hidden in the bushes so that when delayed by dealers, only small quantities were found.

    Family business

    I stood behind everything Family out of 13 peoplecontrolled areas and shared roles. All the links of the chain – couriers, invasions, “watching” and sellers – constantly changed to knock down surveillance.

    Conclusion

    The Cretan Mafia turned messengers into a new weapon market, and tourist squares into drugs of drugs. This is a symbiosis of old crime and digital technology. The only question is how long all this happened under the nose of the authorities.



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