A Liverpool man believed to be at large in Colombia is a priority for US authorities.
The 41-year-old reportedly heads a huge global cocaine trafficking network that supplies high-purity quantities directly from sources in Colombia. According to reports in Greece, the drugs were smuggled through the ports of Mexico, Ecuador and Costa Rica, hidden in piles of bananas, before heading to Europe and Australia.
This was the route believed to have been used for a shipment of 300kg of cocaine seized after it was unloaded at a luxury villa in Thessaloniki, Greece, this month. Four Britons, aged 38, 48, 45 and 52, were detained, mostly from Merseyside.
READ MORE: Murder suspect arrested in Greece in broken cocaine cartel
One of the men, 38, is the brother of the exceptional fugitive. Although the drugs target the European and Australian markets, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has played a central role in breaking up the criminal union along with Greek police and Italian customs.
A DEA spokeswoman told ECHO: “The DEA does not confirm or otherwise comment on the ongoing investigations.”
According to Greek authorities, the traffickers moved elsewhere in Europe and set up headquarters in Thessaloniki shortly before the attacks. However, the leader of the cartel remained in South America.
The men were arrested after unloading cocaine at the villa in a white van. Gunmen stormed the premises, but one of the men tried to snatch a weapon from an officer before being detained.
According to Greek media, the men appeared in court earlier this month for a pre-trial hearing, but “remained silent”. Under Greek privacy laws, their identities have not been revealed and any process can take a long time.
Earlier, ECHO reported that the 45-year-old man from Liverpool was a person interested in an unsolved investigation into a murder in England. Greek media reports described the case as a man who was “tortured and set on fire”.
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