U.S. Department of State
1996 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, March 1997

United States Department of State

Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

GREECE

I. Summary

There is excellent cooperation among Greek and US law enforcement agencies. The Government of Greece (GOG) actively participates in various international antidrug organizations, including the Financial Action Task Force and the Dublin Group, where Greece chairs the Balkans/Near East Regional Working Group. Greece is a party to the 1988 UN Convention and implementing legislation.

II. Status of Country

There is a small but growing domestic market for illicit drugs, particularly heroin. Increasing amounts of cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, barbiturates, amphetamines and locally grown marijuana are also used. GOG officials believe there are approximately 70,000-80,000 heroin users in Greece.

Although Greece is not considered a major financial or money laundering center, money laundering is occurring on an increasingly large scale. The GOG has noted an increase in the number of illegal money couriers transiting Greece en route to Cyprus with large quantities of cash.

While not a major producer, supplier or transshipment point for precursor chemicals, Greece has a special customs unit that tracks and investigates chemical imports and exports.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 1996

The Greek Ministry of Health opened several pilot methadone treatment centers in January 1996.

Greece is active in a number of international antidrug organizations, including the Dublin Group, where it serves as regional chair of the Balkan and Middle East working groups. In February 1996, Greece sent a delegation to a US-sponsored meeting on chemical precursor controls in Vienna. Greece also offered to provide free office space in Thessaloniki to the ECOSOC Commission on Narcotics for the establishment of a regional office for the Balkans.

Law Enforcement Efforts. The Central Narcotics Council, consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Public Order, Finance, and the Merchant Marine, coordinate drug enforcement activities. US and Greek law enforcement cooperation is excellent, and the GOG routinely meets USG legal assistance requests. Greece has no laws permitting sharing of assets with the US.

US and Greek law enforcement cooperation is problematic, and the USG legal assistance requests languish. In December, Greek Customs authorities, working with USG law enforcement authorities, raided an illegal drug warehouse and seized 61,000 dosage units of commercially produced pharmaceuticals, including anabolic steroids. The drugs were destined for the US. Other previous cases had shown Greece as the source for steroids and other controlled substances being mailed to the US.

Corruption. There is not a significant corruption problem among GOG officials. However, there may be problems in lower level Greek courts.

Agreements and Treaties. Greece ratified the 1988 UN Convention in 1992, and is meeting the Convention's goals and objectives relating to drug cultivation, distribution, sale, transport, law enforcement, transit cooperation, and demand reduction. Greece also passed legislation for essential and precursor chemical controls. The GOG and the USG have an extradition treaty from 1932, and an agreement to exchange information on narcotics trafficking from 1928. The Department of Justice is requesting authorization to begin negotiations on a new extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT).

Cultivation/Production. The only illicit drug produced in Greece, aside from very small amounts of opium poppies in the mountains, is cannabis; it is grown in small amounts for local use. Additionally, some cannabis seed is exported to Albania.

Drug Flow/Transit. Greece is a major transshipment route for heroin and hashish from the Middle East and South Asia to Western Europe; a small amount also goes to the US. Hashish is off-loaded in remote areas of the country and transported to Western Europe by boat or overland. Larger amounts of drugs are smuggled into Greece in ship containers, on bonded "TIR" trucks, in automobiles, on trains, and in buses. The trucks usually enter Greece via the land crossings between Greece and Turkey, then across by ferry to Italy. Nigerian drug organizations smuggle heroin and cocaine through the Athens airport and increasingly through Greece's Aegean islands from Turkey. Greek authorities report increasing cocaine shipments from Colombia to Greece. Small amounts of anabolic steroids (not a controlled substance in Greece) are sent illegally via mail to the US.

Demand Reduction/Domestic Programs. The Greek Ministry of Health's demand reduction agency, Okana, coordinates all demand reduction efforts. It develops and administers information and prevention programs, supports therapeutic communities for substance abusers, and coordinates with other agencies working on narcotics treatment and prevention.

IV. US Policy Initiatives and Programs

The Road Ahead. The USG will offer investigative training opportunities to the Greeks and encourage their continued participation in international antidrug organizations, including the Dublin Group.