Two Members of Russian Mafia Arrested in Athens

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Greek police arrested two alleged members of a Russian-speaking criminal organisation during a rapid operation at a petrol station in Palaio Faliro, on the border with Kallithea, on Friday afternoon, August 7, 2026.

Police arrested a 49-year-old man against whom the Extortion Prosecution Department had issued an arrest warrant in 2025 on charges of participating in a criminal organisation and extortion.

Officers also arrested a 37-year-old man, whom authorities identify as another member of the same criminal organisation. In this case, police accuse him of harbouring a criminal.

Authorities say the 49-year-old belonged to the criminal organisation that police dismantled in March 2025. The group operated in the production and distribution of large quantities of illicit tobacco products in Athens, Thessaloniki and parts of regional Greece.

According to police, the 49-year-old also served in the organisation’s operational team under Edik, which allegedly focused on extorting business owners and carrying out violent attacks and beatings against people who had disputes with the gang.

Authorities had also charged the 37-year-old with participating in the same criminal organisation. Police arrested him under a relevant warrant in August 2025, while he left prison in March 2026 under restrictive conditions.

The Department for Crimes Against Property, operating under the Sub-Directorate for Prosecution of Crimes Against Life and Property, located the 49-year-old during an operation. Officers stopped both suspects at the petrol station and arrested them.

Both men will appear before the competent prosecutor.

Police sources describe both suspects as particularly tough figures in Athens’ nightlife and extortion circles. According to the same sources, even members of their own organisation reportedly used the nicknames “Pitbull” and “Bulldog” for them because of the violence they allegedly displayed towards business owners they extorted and members of rival gangs.

Police sources further allege that, following the murder of Giannis Skafτούros in Viotia, the two men extorted a well-known Greek businessman and obtained approximately €1 million.

The 49-year-old’s arrest follows further developments in the criminal organisation case. German authorities have already arrested a 31-year-old man who awaits extradition to Greece. Authorities reportedly identify him as one of Edik’s mafia group’s main enforcers.

The 31-year-old faces arrest warrants over three homicides, one attempted homicide, the abduction of a prison officer and other criminal offences. He has also received a conviction for the murder of Evangelos Zampounis in Neos Kosmos.

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