Customs 2026: seizures of €2 million, drugs, parrots and fossil
Greek customs authorities seized undeclared cash exceeding €2 million, drugs, weapons and exotic birds in the first half of 2026.
Six months of seizures at Greek customs: from cash to fossil
According to lifo.gr, Greek customs authorities identified undeclared cash exceeding €2 million during the first half of 2026, more than 4 million contraband cigarettes, drugs, weapons, counterfeit goods, pharmaceuticals, mobile phones, exotic birds and a section of fossilised tree. Inspections were carried out at airports, ports and border checkpoints using X-ray systems and specially trained dogs.
In total, €2.06 million in cash was seized, tens of thousands of dollars and other foreign currency, 60 gold coins, six gold bars, 31,013 counterfeit or illegal goods, 129 kilograms of the narcotic substance khat, 25 kilograms of cannabis and 528 items of illegal weapons.
Evzones and Kipi: the largest amounts
The highest amounts of undeclared cash were detected at the customs posts of Evzones and Kipi. At Evzones, over €707,000 was confiscated, along with dollars, pounds, Swiss francs, dinars and a bank cheque worth 191,357 Romanian lei. At Kipi, over €707,000 was also found, foreign currency, 60 gold coins and six gold bars with a total weight of 190 grams.
At "Eleftherios Venizelos" airport, inspections of passengers from Constantinople, Doha, Addis Ababa, Tirana, New York and Beirut resulted in the seizure of approximately €195,000 and $53,000.
Millions of contraband cigarettes
In the tobacco products sector, the largest volume of seizures was recorded at Athens airport, in passenger luggage, abandoned suitcases and courier shipments. At "Eleftherios Venizelos", 24 passengers were arrested who were transporting contraband tobacco to and from Cairo, Yerevan, Constantinople, Madrid and London, whilst an additional 2.3 million cigarettes were found in abandoned luggage without passenger details.
In total over the six months, more than 4.1 million cigarettes, 70 kilograms of tobacco, 3,346 cigars and 29,340 heated tobacco sticks were seized at various border checkpoints, including "Macedonia" airport and Kipi, Evzones, Kastanea and Kakavia stations.
Pharmaceuticals, mobile phones and alcohol
At Kastanea, hundreds of packages of pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements without marketing authorisation were found, as well as pesticides of Turkish origin. At Orminio station, 500 mobile phones were discovered hidden in vehicle luggage.
At Kakavia, two shipments of bulk alcohol had been concealed in the luggage compartments of a car and bus operating the Tirana–Athens route. A total of 347 litres of alcoholic drinks and distillates were seized.
Narcotics from Tel Aviv, United States and Britain
At "Eleftherios Venizelos", nearly 129 kilograms of khat were seized in two cases: the plant narcotic substance was found in the luggage of two passengers travelling from Tel Aviv to northern Europe. At the same airport, quantities of cannabis and THC were detected in parcels from the United States, China and Britain.
At Orminio, 11 kilograms of cannabis were hidden inside electronic equipment packaging, whilst at Evzones 3.14 kilograms were found in the engine compartment of a refrigerated lorry.
528 items of illegal weapons
Customs authorities seized a total of 528 items of illegal weapons, including air guns, knives, stilettos, folding knuckle dusters and metal ball bearings. Seven air guns were found at Kipi, whilst at Mytilene passengers were arrested who were transporting knives, stilettos, pocket knives and a folding metal baton.
Macaw parrots and fossil from Lesbos
At Kipi, apart from pharmaceuticals and jewellery weighing almost two kilograms, two red Macaw parrots were found. One of the most unusual cases was recorded at Mytilene, where in the luggage of a passenger travelling to Romania a section of fossilised tree trunk from the protected Petrified Forest of Lesbos was found, valued at over €7,000. The find was seized and will be handed over to the Natural History Museum of the region.
Counterfeit goods and counterfeits
In the first half, over 31,000 counterfeit or illegal goods were seized, such as clothing, shoes, bags, watches, sunglasses and printer consumables. The largest shipment was detected at Kipi, with over 22,000 imitations of well-known trademarks, 1,705 illegal graphite containers and eight moulds for manufacturing counterfeit labels.
In Thessaloniki, hundreds of tonnes of urea and other goods with false country of origin details were seized, with the state collecting over €280,000 in two cases of misleading customs classification.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)