ATHENS

Greek police announced Thursday that they had dismantled an international drug trafficking ring after arresting four of its members.

Hundreds of kilos of cocaine were found sealed in containers at the Port of Piraeus, they said, while the drugs were believed to have originated from Latin America and were headed to European countries including Greece for illegal profits.

The drugs weighed more than 210 kilos and were sealed in nylon packages hidden in containers of frozen shrimp, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.

The large-scale operation was under way for months with the collaboration of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Office at the US Embassy in Athens, the Hellenic Police’s special counterterrorism unit and the narcotics squad of the 3rd Piraeus Customs Office, and with the assistance of other Greek authorities.

According to the police, the ring had gained illegal profits exceeding €5 million ($5.4 million).

The four people arrested included a 48-year-old man believed to be the leader and responsible for the management of the operation, the drug transfers and the financing who had a 20-year sentence pending including a fine since 2017, when he was found guilty of the illegal production of the synthetic drug Captagon.

A 64-year-old had served a prison sentence in the US for his involvement in the transfer of weapons from Europe, while a 36-year-old man was responsible for the recruitment of other members.

The fourth person arrested was a 54-year-old in charge of the personal protection of the 48-year-old leader.

The four men are believed to be from Albania and Greece.

​​​​​​​Greek authorities have managed to dismantle several drug trafficking rings in the past months with hundreds of kilos of illegal drugs confiscated on Greek soil.

Last June, €3.2 million worth of cocaine stuffed in banana containers was seized in northern Greece, while in September, more than 585 kilograms of cocaine was seized in Greece's northern port city of Thessaloniki, one of the largest seizures of drugs.

A month later, in October, another 60 kilos of cocaine was seized from another month-long operation.