Police investigation into the mafia-style execution of six foreign nationals on Monday evening is being conducted in full speed by the Attica Security headquarters. Based on an initial police assessment, the killings appear to be a settling of accounts between rival criminal gangs, most likely Turkish nationals, involved in heroin trade or human trafficking.
While initial information suggested that the victims were Albanians, recent information speaks of Turks.
State broadcaster ERT reported a few minutes ago, that one of the victims has been identified to be a 26-year-old Turkish national who illegally entered Greece a few months ago and was also arrested for this reason.
According to police sources, the identity of the victims has not been fully confirmed as yet and while they appear to be holders of French identity cards police are looking into whether these are fake or genuine.
It is recalled that the victims were riding a Ford vehicle with fake German license plates when they got shot.
Dozens of bullet casings, media speak of more than 60! – but no gun have been found at the crime scene.
Four of the victims were inside a car and the two other victims were killed outside the vehicle.
The Greek Police are also collecting evidence from surveillance cameras in the area to find clues regarding the identity of the culprits and track how they got to the crime scene and then made their escape.
Turkish national arrested
Monday night and just two hours after the execution in Artemida by Loutsa in north-eastern Attica, police arrested a Turkish national as he was departing the international airport Eleftherios Venizelos in Athens. His participation in the massacre with six dead in Artemisa is being investigated, although so far there is no evidence linking him to the mafia-style gunfire.
According to information obtained by news website enikos.gr, the 32-year-old man had a ticket to the island of Mytilini opposite the Turkish west coast, and was arrested because he had fake Portuguese IDs with him. During a hand luggage check he was found to be in possession of a bag containing 4 9mm cartridges.
ERT TV reports Tuesday noon that the man is being taken to prosecutor early Tuesday afternoon as he could not justify the fake IDs and passes and the cartridges.