Greek Mafia Double Murder Suspect Arrested in Dubai
Source: Balkan Insight
A man suspected of being involved in the gangland murders of two Greek mafia kingpins has been arrested in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates
The 41-year-old from Uzbekistan has an international arrest warrant pending against him, and is suspected of being part of a criminal gang behind the murders of Yiannis Skaftouros in 2022 and Vassilis Roubetis in 2023 – both leading members of the Greek mafia.
Skaftouros, 55, was sprayed with bullets in the yard of his home, in front of his family. He was convicted in 2012 of complicity in the 2009 abduction of Greek ship-owner Pericles Panagopoulos and the murder of businessman Giorgos Goussios, but was acquitted on appeal five years later.
Roubetis, previously found guilty of complicity to homicide over the 2007 killing of Panathinaikos fan Michalis Filopoulos in June 2023, together with his brother-in-law, Dionysis Mouzakitis. Roubetis was in the driver’s seat of the armoured Mercedes jeep belonging to ship-owner Yannis Alafouzos, president of Panathinaikos football club and SKAI TV.
In January, Greek police announced they had identified seven people suspected of involvement in the murders of Skaftouros and Roubetis. The case file included two people already in detention. An arrest warrant has been issued for two other suspects, from Georgia and Uzbekistan, who have fled abroad.
Also among the suspects were a 25-year-old Albanian, Pajo Xhonatan, and 21-year-old Artyom Mnatsakanyana, an ethnic Greek from an unspecified ex-Soviet republic. Both were arrested in Montenegro in October 2023.
According to Greek police, the seven suspects are linked to contract killings in Montenegro and Cyprus. Contract killings related to Greek organised crime frequently involve non-Greeks from elsewhere in the Balkans.
Alongside the double murder suspect, another man, a Greek expatriate from Ukraine was also arrested in Dubai. Greek media report that the man is wanted after serving a seven-year prison sentence for burglaries in Greece
A Greek police spokesperson told BIRN they were awaiting official information from Dubai on the arrest of the two men.
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
