Greece Large pickpocket clique arrested in Athens

In Athens, 21 members of a gang of youths and young men have been arrested for at least 129 robberies since the beginning of the year.

A total of 48 suspected members of the gang have been identified, eleven of whom are currently in prison, the Greek police announced.

Many of the alleged perpetrators are still minors, and a number of them already have a criminal record. They will now have to answer not only for the robberies, but also for forming a criminal organization, it said.

Mainly active at tourist hotspots

The gang was mainly active in tourist hotspots in the Greek capital, for example in the old town of Monastiraki, but also in the central Syntagma Square and in the metro. The youths had been extremely aggressive, bumping into unsuspecting people in the crowd, distracting them and then attacking them. In some cases, they simply ripped gold necklaces from the victims' necks by force.

The fact that the alleged perpetrators celebrated their successes with countless pictures on social media is likely to add to the evidence. The newspaper "To Proto Thema" published corresponding images in which young men present hands full of gold jewelry as well as bundles of banknotes and weapons.

According to the police, a young man who had already caused a stir in the summer was also arrested during the operation: he had run through the picture in the background during a report by the SKAI channel on the Athens city beach, ripped the gold chain off an elderly woman's neck and escaped with it while the camera documented everything.

SDA