Saturday, December 1, 2018
On Wednesday, Greek police announced they arrested 63 people for gold smuggling. According to a report from Associated Press (AP), police seized cash, gold bars, and other items, totaling about two million euros (roughly 2.3 million US dollars).
Police said on Friday the police operation, started on Tuesday, involved 50 homes and 30 stores. Police accused the suspects of buying stolen gold from foreigners who allegedly robbed homes.
Police said the scheme had involved at least two collaborating criminal networks over two years or longer. The suspects had allegedly been melting the gold items and exporting the gold to Turkey using tour buses to avoid taxes, and to Germany. The gold was allegedly smuggled through a number of pawn shops, according to AP.
Press reported pawn shops have multiplied in Greece in the financial crisis ongoing there since 2010, which reportedly has caused people to buy an increased amount of gold and silver to store their assets.