Greek Court Detains 12 Turks Over Gun-Smuggling Charges

A Greek court has ruled in favor of detaining 12 Turkish nationals who were arrested on suspicions of participating in an international criminal syndicate accused of smuggling weapons into Greece. According to legal sources, the decision was announced on Thursday, following their arrest near the northern Greek border.

The individuals were apprehended last week close to the Evros river, a known crossing point at the Greek-Turkish frontier. Authorities seized two sacks and a suitcase containing 147 pistols, multiple bullets, and other weapon parts concealed in plastic bags from the group of 15 people.

While the suspects face accusations of illegally entering Greece and furnishing weapons to criminal organizations within the country, they have denied all charges. They claim to be migrants and assert that the firearms were already onboard the traffickers' vessel used for crossing the river. Recent years have seen an uptick in Turkish nationals involved in firearms incidents and arrests in Greece, which police attribute to increased activities of Turkish criminal networks settling scores across borders.

(With inputs from agencies.)