Vorizia: Uncle and nephews seized land through extortion and collected OPEKEPE subsidies

A police operation by the Crete Organized Crime Unit of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DAOE) has been underway since early this morning, aiming to dismantle a criminal organization whose members are allegedly involved, depending on the case, in extortion, arson, property damage, and fraud against the financial interests of the European Union through OPEKEPE subsidies.

So far, three members of the same family have been arrested under warrants, along with three others accused of livestock theft.

The family, based in Vorizia, Heraklion, Crete, is considered the fear and terror of the local community and is unrelated to the families involved in the well-known vendetta cases.

The key figures are the family’s uncle and his two nephews, who were arrested under warrants. They allegedly seized land belonging to fellow villagers and others through violence, threats, and extortion, including repeated acts of vandalism. They then declared the properties to OPEKEPE as their own so that their wives could collect the subsidies.

Through this campaign of intimidation, they allegedly caused financial damages exceeding €200,000 to private citizens and more than €580,000 to the Greek state and the EU through OPEKEPE subsidies.

As part of the same investigation, three other members of the same family were found to have been involved in livestock theft and were also arrested. Official announcements from the Hellenic Police are expected following the completion of the investigation.

It is worth noting that these are essentially members of a family indirectly referenced some time ago by Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis in an interview, when he spoke about individuals exploiting the area through illegal activities while collecting OPEKEPE subsidies.