VZCZCXRO6687
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHIK #0066/01 2631048
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191048Z SEP 08
FM AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0374
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0275
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0416

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THESSALONIKI 000066 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER SOCI PGOV GR
SUBJECT: THESSALONIKI POLICE ARREST NOTORIOUS "ROBIN HOOD" CRIMINAL; 
ANARCHISTS PROTEST 
 
REF: THESSALONIKI 0048 
 
THESSALONI 00000066  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
POLICE VIGILENCE AND ACCOMPLICE'S ERROR LEAD TO ARREST 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The arrest of notorious criminal Vassilis 
Paliokostas for the highly publicized kidnapping of a prominent 
northern Greek businessman has boosted the morale and public 
image of northern Greece's often criticized police.  Police 
recovered an impressive cache of weapons in the arrest, 
including an RPG that appears unrelated to the January 2007 RPG 
attack on Embassy Athens.  Paliokostas, who enjoys a Robin Hood 
reputation, appears to have had connections with local 
anarchists, some of whom have protested the arrest with arson 
attacks and other violent acts.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (U) During the night of August 20, 2008, Thessaloniki SWAT 
police raided a hideout in the Souroti section of Thessaloniki 
and arrested the infamous Vassilis Paleokostas and one of his 
accomplices.  Paleokostas was the mastermind of the kidnapping 
of northern Greece industrialist George Mylonas on June 9, 2008 
(Reftel) and had been a fugitive since his spectacular escape by 
helicopter from Korydaols prison near Athens in June 2006. 
Mylonas had been kept at the Souroti hideout for 13 days after 
his kidnapping and was released after payment of a reported 10 
million euros ransom.  The raid and arrests were made after 
close monitoring by police of a suspected accomplice of 
Paleokostas and a mistake by another gang member who was 
arrested a few days earlier while attempting to deposit 230,000 
Euros in marked notes in a bank in Chania, Crete. 
 
RANSOM CASH AND A CACHE OF WEAPONS FOUND AT TWO HIDEOUTS 
 
¶3.  (U) At the Souroti location, police found a portion of the 
ransom money (between one and three million euros) along with a 
large cache of weapons that included a bazooka, five Kalashnikov 
rifles, explosives, hand grenades, and 3,700 rounds of 
ammunition.  Police also found radio receiving units, 
micro-cameras and bullet proof vests.  Further investigation led 
police to a second gang location, an apartment in Peraia, 
Thessaloniki where they located another three million euros of 
the ransom money and an RPG, similar to the one used in the 
attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007 along with 
four machine guns, two pistols, two grenades and 1,900 
additional rounds of ammunition. 
 
THE MYLONAS KIDNAPPING WAS PALEOKOSTAS' SECOND BIG SCORE 
 
¶4.  (U) In 1995, also in Thessaloniki, Paleokostas organized and 
carried out the abduction of another local businessman, 
Alexandros Haitoglou.  Haitoglou was the owner of a local food 
company called "Macedonian Halva."  A reported ransom of just 
over one million dollars was paid in that case after which 
Haitoglou was released.  Paleokostas was later arrested and 
imprisoned.  But in a spectacular operation organized by his 
brother Nikos, Paleokostas escaped by helicopter from Korydalos 
Prison near Athens along with an Albanian convict named Alket 
Rizaj.  Both Nikos Paleokostas and Rizaj were apprehended about 
three months after the escape but Vassilis Paleokostas remained 
at large until this recent arrest. 
 
POLICE SAY RECOVERED RPG NOT CONNECTED WITH EMBASSY ATTACK 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Police Inspector General for Northern Greece 
Lieutenant General Antonis Bamiatzis told Post that the RPG 
recovered from Paleokostas' hideout is an old-style Chinese 
weapon that almost surely was brought to Greece through Albania. 
 Although it is of the same general type as the RPG used in the 
attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007, Bamiatzis 
told Post that police have found no connection between the two 
weapons.  He also noted that Paleokostas is completely 
apolitical, suggesting that Paleokostas would be unlikely to 
know who is President of the United States and surely wouldn't 
know if that person were a Republican or Democrat. 
 
ARREST MAY DISCOURAGE OTHER KIDNAPPERS, POLICE HOPE 
 
¶6.  (SBU) A senior police official told us the arrest should 
send a warning to other potential kidnappers, but there is of 
course no way to prevent a re-occurrence.  The official noted 
that high-profile business people in northern Greece are more 
relaxed about security than in Athens, where bodyguards are more 
common.  He did not believe that northern businessmen had 
changed their security habits since the kidnapping. 
 
THE ANARCHIST CONNECTION 
 
¶7.  (U) Eight people have been arrested so far for direct or 
indirect connections with the kidnapping.  They face charges 
that include joint abduction, creating a criminal organization, 
 
THESSALONI 00000066  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
possessing explosives and bombs, forgery, extortion and various 
weapons charges.  One of the eight individuals arrested is known 
anarchist Georgiadis, who had been previously arrested for 
involvement in a series of gas canister attacks in Thessaloniki. 
 Perhaps because of this connection and perhaps because 
Paleokostas enjoys something of a reputation as a Robin Hood, 
local anarchist groups have been voicing support for Paleokostas 
as he is progressing through his various judicial proceedings. 
Additionally, anarchist groups have made several recent arson 
attacks in Thessaloniki after which they voiced support for 
Paleokostas and/or contempt for George Mylonas, Paleokostas' 
former captive.  On September 13 a group calling itself 
"Conspiracy of the Thessaloniki Fire Cadres - Commandos 
Asymmetric Threat" attacked a downtown Thessaloniki police 
station with Molotov cocktails, destroying a patrol car and two 
other vehicles.  The group informed media its attack was to show 
"solidarity" with Paliokostas. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The relatively rapid capture of Paleokostas, 
one of Greece's most notorious criminals, and his gang is a much 
needed boost to the morale and public image of the Greek police. 
 Police are proud of their efforts despite the fact that a good 
bit of luck and some errors on the part of the gang played a 
role in the capture.  At the same time, Thessaloniki police 
leaders have expressed concern about the connection between the 
anarchists and one whom they view as a common criminal, calling 
the apparent close connection "unprecedented."  END COMMENT 
YEE