The man known as 'Edik', the alleged leader of the so-called Russian-Ukrainian Mafia, has been arrested in Dubai, according to exclusive information from DocumentoNews.gr. An international red notice was pending against him.
Sources report that his lawyers have already begun a hard legal battle aimed at securing his extradition to Russia, in order to prevent by any means his handover to the Greek authorities to face the very serious charges against him. According to DocumentoNews, there was also Greek involvement in the process of his arrest.
Refuge in the Emirates
'Edik', together with an associate of Georgian origin, had found refuge in the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to evade arrest. His alleged criminal organisation, composed mainly of ethnic Greeks from the former USSR, centred on the smuggling of tobacco products.
In a large-scale operation by the Greek Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (DAOE) launched in the past, 47 people were arrested, while the overall case file includes a further 106 defendants.
The 'Greek Mafia' death contracts
The attempt to impose an absolute monopoly on cigarette smuggling led to the bloodiest period in the Greek underworld, with the Homicide Subdirectorate solving the brutal killings of leading members of the so-called Greek Mafia.
The organisation's alleged enforcement arm is considered responsible for the murder of Giannis Skaftouros, also known as 'Uncle Joe', who was killed in 2022 in front of his family at his country home in Skourta, Viotia. The same individuals were charged and convicted for the murders of Vasilis Roumbetis and Dionysis Mouzakitis, who were gunned down in June 2023 inside an armoured jeep in the ground-floor parking area of an apartment building in Korydallos.
The Zabounis case
In the coming period, the members of the group who allegedly shot dead Vangelis Zabounis with 97 bullets on 14 January 2024, outside a petrol station he had interests in at Neos Kosmos, are expected to be committed for trial.
Zabounis, also known as 'Zambon', became a target when major domestic names in cigarette smuggling, feeling powerless against the extreme violence of Edik's henchmen, turned to him seeking protection. Among them is reported to be a well-known Piraeus businessman who had in the past fallen victim to kidnapping by a group of 'Russian Pontians'.
Source: Documento News
