Galery

1

A killer of policemen, a group of thieves specialized in thefts from ATMs and several robbers are among the runaways wanted by the police in Greece after their spectacular escape from the prison in Trikala last week. According to the latest information announced by the authorities, they will try at all costs to cross the border and to return, at least for a short while, to Albania, where they come from. Meanwhile, the police are trying to find out exactly what happened during the escape and who fired at whom.

Two of the 11 runaways, Kala Klement, aged 25 and Murati Admiral, aged 47, are part of a criminal organization composed by Albanians and Greeks, which the local authorities broke up in January 2013. They are accused of robbing nine banks and of several attempted robberies of financial institutions. The capital gained from the robberies exceeds two million euro as reported by To Vima.

This criminal organization possesses heavy weapons and Kalashnikov guns, magazines, three Tokarev pistols, five hand grenades and makeshift explosive devices were found at the time of the arrest of its members. The persons captured had been involved in a skirmish with the police in Argos in 2010 and 2012 but managed to escape. Typical of this criminal group is that its members entered the banks after cutting the protective grille. Another three members of this band in addition to the two runaways, among whom is Kala Klement’s brother, are at liberty. The police have serious suspicions that their followers, who have not been apprehended, helped the recidivists escape last week.

Luli Flolat, aged 27, is also among the runaways. He is believed to have been the leader of a gang specialized in robbing elderly people around the town of Volos. On 18 May 2011, his group broke into the house of a 55-year-old man to burgle it. Shortly after that, the wife of the victim of the robbery was found dead. The police found her tied up and tortured. The authorities draw attention to the particular ferocity of Flolat’s gang. The majority of its victims were found with tied hands and feet, and in poor condition.

Marian Kola or Mazan, aged 36, is known to the police due to his clash with the police in the area of Virona in Athens in 2010. A member of the gang, aged 25, was killed in the shooting but Mazan was able to escape.

Trebeta Ermal or Litro, aged 35, who was captured in February 2012, is another acquaintance of the police. This was his second escape from the same prison. Ermal is an expert in thefts and he had only one partner during his first escape from Trikala on 27 May 2010. The other three of the eight persons at liberty are Lika Edison, aged 24, Sulah Fatos, aged 31 and Kupa Ilir, aged 27. Ilir was arrested for possession and transportation of explosives whereas the other two committed a series of petty thefts and a burglary in the period 2011-2012.

Meanwhile, a police survey shows that 83% of the attacks in Greece are carried out in family or small houses. They are considered most vulnerable and draw the attention of criminals. Another 22% of attacks affect ground floors and flats on the first floor. The authorities note that the majority of burglaries take place between two and five o'clock in the morning. If foreign criminal groups operating in Greece carried out the majority of thefts several years ago, now they often involve Greek criminal gangs, which have begun to monopolize the burglaries in private homes and banks.

According to statistics of the Greek police, 1,191 attacks on houses were registered in the country in 2012 and 794 of them were in the region of Attica. For comparison, there were 912 attacks on houses in 2011 and 432 in 2010. The number of burglaries in 2012 was 28,193, which is significantly higher than in 2010, when it was 24,603.
 
In 2012, 467 robbers were captured, 43% of which of Greek origin and 57% foreigners. There has been a significant increase in the number of arrests of Greeks who often collaborate with criminals from third countries. Local thieves prefer burglaries. "The main target of the criminals is houses in remote or rural areas, which the thieves consider particularly vulnerable. Access to the houses is easy and they become an ideal subject of attack," a representative from the Greek authorities comments.