Greek police arrested an Algerian man suspected of smuggling tablets of pain-fighting drug pregabalin to France from Greece, following an operation with French authorities and EU police agency Europol.
Police officers stand guard outside the Greek police headquarters in Athens, Reuters/Giorgos Moutafis
Greek police arrested an Algerian man suspected of smuggling tablets of pain-fighting drug pregabalin to France from Greece, following an operation with French authorities and EU police agency Europol.
The 28-year-old obtained drugs containing pregabalin from pharmacies in Greece and shipped them to Paris and other French cities over the past three years, police said on Wednesday. The anti-seizure drug is used to treat epilepsy and anxiety and can cause relaxation and euphoria.
The man was arrested in Athens this week as he was trying to send a package of more than 3,300 of the tablets, a police statement said. At least 55 such drug shipments have been confirmed since 2021, a police official said.
French police also arrested a man alleged to be the receiver of the packages, the official added.
In March, the Greek coast guard confiscated a British-flagged boat loaded with nearly four million pregabalin tablets, after a tip-off from Greece's intelligence service about drug-smuggling rings operating in the country.
Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou
The European Union unveiled a new strategy on Thursday aimed at revitalizing and strengthening its relations with countries in the southern Mediterranean, including Lebanon and North African nations such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, and Syria.
The European Union intends to play an active role in the peace initiative proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump for Gaza and hopes to be part of the international transitional body envisioned in the plan, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday during a visit to Kuwait.
In recent days, Morocco has witnessed an unexpected surge of online-driven protests organized under the banner of “GENZ 212.”
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.