There is no end to the revelations about the Cretan mafia, as the police investigation reveals that they trafficked drugs even inside holy temples, even awarded degrees to students, while there are also strong suspicions of corruption of the judiciary.
The criminal organization appears to have operated as a state within a state in Chania and did not hesitate to sell drugs in churches. In fact, in a conversation one of the defendants had with a client, the client said to him, "Holy man, let's go to church" to make the deal. The defendant, according to the case file, replied, "Well, no, I'm not a saint, I'm not Saint Paisios, I'm a drug dealer."
According to SKAI, in another case of their criminal activity, which is recorded in the case file, a member of the ring even gave a diploma to the mother of a student who asked for their help. The fee was 15.000 euros.
Traces of erosion of Justice
In addition to the police, the Church and a number of public bodies, according to the report by Yiannis Souliotis in Kathimerini, there are strong suspicions that the Cretan mafia had also corrupted the judiciary.
According to the report, in the court documents prepared by the Chania Security Sub-Directorate and submitted to the prosecutor, there are reports of collusion between those involved to influence the composition of the courts and ultimately achieve favorable court decisions.
Characteristic is the case of a member of the criminal organization, known by the nickname "patomboukalos", who is now also being prosecuted for instigating a bomb attack against a police officer in January 2024.
In November 2023, he was arrested along with a girl for drug trafficking, as a quantity of cocaine in "fixes" ready for distribution on the market was found in his possession.
In his trial, which concluded in June 2025, the "patombukalos" was found by the court to be unpunished and acquitted, with the court accepting the defense's claim that the drugs were for "personal use". It is noted that the defendant was already under trial and in fact detained for a case not of drug use but of drug trafficking, as in a random check by police officers of the Kissamos Police Station in June 2024, more than 100 "sticks" of cocaine had been found in his possession.
At the same time, the woman who had been arrested with him in 2023 had testified to the authorities that "in early November 2023, the police caught us with Kostas because we had six pieces of coke ready to be pushed. Kostas did not work and his only job was selling coke. We sold about 25 grams per day for 100 euros per gram."
Source: skai.gr
