THESSALONIKI POLICE ARREST NOTORIOUS "ROBIN HOOD" CRIMINAL;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THESSALONIKI 000066

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PTER SOCI PGOV GR
SUBJECT: THESSALONIKI POLICE ARREST NOTORIOUS "ROBIN HOOD" CRIMINAL;
ANARCHISTS PROTEST

REF: THESSALONIKI 0048

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POLICE VIGILENCE AND ACCOMPLICE'S ERROR LEAD TO ARREST


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The arrest of notorious criminal Vassilis
Paliokostas for the highly publicized kidnapping of a prominent
northern Greek businessman has boosted the morale and public
image of northern Greece's often criticized police. Police
recovered an impressive cache of weapons in the arrest,
including an RPG that appears unrelated to the January 2007 RPG
attack on Embassy Athens. Paliokostas, who enjoys a Robin Hood
reputation, appears to have had connections with local
anarchists, some of whom have protested the arrest with arson
attacks and other violent acts. END SUMMARY


2. (U) During the night of August 20, 2008, Thessaloniki SWAT
police raided a hideout in the Souroti section of Thessaloniki
and arrested the infamous Vassilis Paleokostas and one of his
accomplices. Paleokostas was the mastermind of the kidnapping
of northern Greece industrialist George Mylonas on June 9, 2008
(Reftel) and had been a fugitive since his spectacular escape by
helicopter from Korydaols prison near Athens in June 2006.
Mylonas had been kept at the Souroti hideout for 13 days after
his kidnapping and was released after payment of a reported 10
million euros ransom. The raid and arrests were made after
close monitoring by police of a suspected accomplice of
Paleokostas and a mistake by another gang member who was
arrested a few days earlier while attempting to deposit 230,000
Euros in marked notes in a bank in Chania, Crete.

RANSOM CASH AND A CACHE OF WEAPONS FOUND AT TWO HIDEOUTS


3. (U) At the Souroti location, police found a portion of the
ransom money (between one and three million euros) along with a
large cache of weapons that included a bazooka, five Kalashnikov
rifles, explosives, hand grenades, and 3,700 rounds of
ammunition. Police also found radio receiving units,
micro-cameras and bullet proof vests. Further investigation led
police to a second gang location, an apartment in Peraia,
Thessaloniki where they located another three million euros of
the ransom money and an RPG, similar to the one used in the
attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007 along with
four machine guns, two pistols, two grenades and 1,900
additional rounds of ammunition.

THE MYLONAS KIDNAPPING WAS PALEOKOSTAS' SECOND BIG SCORE


4. (U) In 1995, also in Thessaloniki, Paleokostas organized and
carried out the abduction of another local businessman,
Alexandros Haitoglou. Haitoglou was the owner of a local food
company called "Macedonian Halva." A reported ransom of just
over one million dollars was paid in that case after which
Haitoglou was released. Paleokostas was later arrested and
imprisoned. But in a spectacular operation organized by his
brother Nikos, Paleokostas escaped by helicopter from Korydalos
Prison near Athens along with an Albanian convict named Alket
Rizaj. Both Nikos Paleokostas and Rizaj were apprehended about
three months after the escape but Vassilis Paleokostas remained
at large until this recent arrest.

POLICE SAY RECOVERED RPG NOT CONNECTED WITH EMBASSY ATTACK


5. (SBU) Police Inspector General for Northern Greece
Lieutenant General Antonis Bamiatzis told Post that the RPG
recovered from Paleokostas' hideout is an old-style Chinese
weapon that almost surely was brought to Greece through Albania.
Although it is of the same general type as the RPG used in the
attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007, Bamiatzis
told Post that police have found no connection between the two
weapons. He also noted that Paleokostas is completely
apolitical, suggesting that Paleokostas would be unlikely to
know who is President of the United States and surely wouldn't
know if that person were a Republican or Democrat.

ARREST MAY DISCOURAGE OTHER KIDNAPPERS, POLICE HOPE


6. (SBU) A senior police official told us the arrest should
send a warning to other potential kidnappers, but there is of
course no way to prevent a re-occurrence. The official noted
that high-profile business people in northern Greece are more
relaxed about security than in Athens, where bodyguards are more
common. He did not believe that northern businessmen had
changed their security habits since the kidnapping.

THE ANARCHIST CONNECTION


7. (U) Eight people have been arrested so far for direct or
indirect connections with the kidnapping. They face charges
that include joint abduction, creating a criminal organization,

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possessing explosives and bombs, forgery, extortion and various
weapons charges. One of the eight individuals arrested is known
anarchist Georgiadis, who had been previously arrested for
involvement in a series of gas canister attacks in Thessaloniki.
Perhaps because of this connection and perhaps because
Paleokostas enjoys something of a reputation as a Robin Hood,
local anarchist groups have been voicing support for Paleokostas
as he is progressing through his various judicial proceedings.
Additionally, anarchist groups have made several recent arson
attacks in Thessaloniki after which they voiced support for
Paleokostas and/or contempt for George Mylonas, Paleokostas'
former captive. On September 13 a group calling itself
"Conspiracy of the Thessaloniki Fire Cadres - Commandos
Asymmetric Threat" attacked a downtown Thessaloniki police
station with Molotov cocktails, destroying a patrol car and two
other vehicles. The group informed media its attack was to show
"solidarity" with Paliokostas.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: The relatively rapid capture of Paleokostas,
one of Greece's most notorious criminals, and his gang is a much
needed boost to the morale and public image of the Greek police.
Police are proud of their efforts despite the fact that a good
bit of luck and some errors on the part of the gang played a
role in the capture. At the same time, Thessaloniki police
leaders have expressed concern about the connection between the
anarchists and one whom they view as a common criminal, calling
the apparent close connection "unprecedented." END COMMENT
YEE