Greek Customs: Seizures of drugs, weapons, cash and parrots at customs in first half of 2026
Illicit medicines, exotic birds, fossils and millions in undeclared cash were found by Greek customs officials at airports and border checkpoints.
Customs under pressure: What Greek customs checks revealed in the first half of 2026
Weapons, drugs, millions of euros in undeclared cash, exotic birds and a section of fossilised tree trunk from the Petrified Forest of Lesbos — these are just some of the findings recorded by Greek customs at Greek border posts from January to June 2026, according to an announcement cited by popaganda.gr.
Checks were conducted at airports, ports and border checkpoints across the country, using X-ray scanning systems and specially trained detection dogs. Operations focused on illegal money trafficking, drugs and counterfeit goods, as well as smuggling of tobacco, alcoholic beverages and energy products.
Undeclared cash on high-risk flights
At Eleftherios Venizelos airport, detector dogs Hant and Camora identified large undeclared sums of money in consecutive passenger checks. The targeted inspections involved flights from Constantinople, Doha, Addis Ababa, Tirana, New York and Beirut.
At Macedonia airport, with the help of dog Elvis, undeclared cash was also found on passengers. At Kakavia Customs, a total of 118,000 euros were seized, whilst at Mytilene Customs, during a ship's call from Aivalık, 15,994.91 euros were found on a female passenger from Turkey.
At Athens International Airport, 17 passengers arriving from Cairo, Yerevan and Constantinople were arrested, as well as seven passengers departing for Madrid, Brussels, Belgrade, Amsterdam and London.
Drugs hidden in lorries and packaging
At Nea Orestias Customs, at Ormanio Railway Station, 11 kilograms of raw cannabis hidden in electronic equipment packaging inside an incoming vehicle were seized. One person was arrested and a case file was opened.
At Evzones Customs, detector dog Iris found in the engine compartment void of a refrigerated lorry three packages containing 3.14 kilograms of raw Indian cannabis. The foreign driver was arrested, the drugs and lorry were seized, and a report was submitted to the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Kilkis.
At Kipes Customs, dog Laika found 3.4 grams of cannabis hidden in work gloves and in the diagnostic port beneath the steering wheel of a lorry with Turkish number plates.
Weapons and illicit tobacco
In Mytilene, in two separate operations in passenger vehicles from Turkey, illegal weapons were seized. In the first, six knives and stilettos of different types were found. The holders were arrested under summary proceedings for violation of weapons legislation.
At Kastanies Customs, 52,560 cigarettes were seized, at Kakavia Customs 18 kilograms of tobacco, whilst in Patras, during checks at public markets, 4,600 cigarettes without the required tax revenue stamp were found. At Kipes Customs, 175 litres of alcoholic beverages were seized, whilst at Kakavia Customs, using a mobile X-ray system, a total of 100 litres of illicit loose alcoholic beverage hidden in luggage compartments of a passenger car and a coach on the Tirana–Athens route were found.
Fossil, exotic birds and 500 mobile phones
In Mytilene, during X-ray screening of baggage on a flight to Romania, a section of a fossilised tree trunk from the protected Petrified Forest of Lesbos — a world heritage monument of nature registered in the NATURA 2000 network — was found. Its value exceeds 7,000 euros. A foreign female passenger was arrested for smuggling of objects of cultural heritage, and the fossil will be handed over to the Natural History Museum of the Petrified Forest of Lesbos.
At Ormanio Railway Station, inspectors from Nea Orestias Customs found 500 illicit mobile phones in vehicle luggage. At Evzones Customs, illegal dog transportation was identified, whilst as part of a joint operation at Evzones and Doirani Customs, exotic birds were found, including parrots.
Counterfeit goods mass imports
At Eleftherios Venizelos, 335 counterfeit items — clothing, footwear and watches — were seized from baggage of passengers from Constantinople and Hong Kong. At the same time, 6,709 counterfeit goods, such as clothing, shoes, bags and sunglasses, found in postal parcels from Egypt and China via Germany destined for Greece, were seized.
Greek customs characterised the results as indicative of the "operational readiness of customs services and the systematic use of technological equipment and operational resources".
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)