Cocaine, cannabis and crystal meth: police bust a drug den in an Athens hotel

Two men, aged 30 and 33, were detained after a police operation in the Agios Panteleimonas area, where hotel rooms, according to investigators, became to drug distribution points.

During the search, officers found cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, cannabis, narcotic pills, cash, digital scales and packaging materials. The investigation believes that the detainees used the hotel premises as a base for regular illegal transactions.

Hotel rooms as a sales base

According to investigators, the two defendants began using the hotel premises in May. The rooms, as the police assume, served not just as a temporary shelter, but as a place where drugs were stored, packaged and transferred.

This scheme allows you to avoid unnecessary attention: the hotel provides a constant flow of people, the opportunity to quickly change rooms, hide among the guests and not attract neighbors with constant visits. In theory, this is an ordinary accommodation facility. In practice, police suspect, part of the building could become a convenient showcase for the shadow market.

What was found during the searches

During the operation, the police seized:

• 128 tablets;
• crystal methamphetamine;
• cannabis;
• small amounts of cocaine;
• high precision electronic scales;
• packaging materials;
• cash and other items that may be associated with illegal transactions.

The presence of scales and packaging is considered by investigators as a sign that the substances are being prepared for further distribution. The final assessment of all seized materials will be given by laboratory tests and the court.

At least 60 episodes

According to preliminary data, the police have established at least 60 cases of alleged drug trafficking. Contacts with clients, according to law enforcement officers, were conducted using conditional expressions and code wording.

This is an important detail: we are not talking about a single arrest with several doses, but about the investigation’s version of a regular pattern that operated over several weeks or months.

What charges have been brought?

The detainees were charged with creating or participating in a criminal group, violating drug laws and laundering proceeds from crime.

All accusations at this stage are the position of the investigation. The question of guilt will be decided by the court after completion of the investigation and consideration of the case materials.

Editorial comment

The story is especially unpleasant not because the drugs were found in Athens. This, unfortunately, will not surprise anyone. Another thing is unpleasant: an ordinary hotel where a person checks in for the night may turn out to be a place where a completely different industry operates in parallel.

While tourists and residents are looking for an inexpensive room in the city center, someone, according to police, is using the same corridors and the same rooms as a market for crystal meth, pills and cocaine. A hotel sign on the facade does not always mean that only overnight accommodation is sold inside.

Now the investigation must find out who else knew about what was happening, how long the scheme worked and why 60 alleged transactions were carried out before the police arrived at the hotel.

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