"The drugs will be hidden in the cargo of recycled paper": probe and detention after operation "Vardaris"

A prosecutor from the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption has opened an investigative procedure following a criminal report filed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and issued an order against one suspect. The prosecutor alleges the suspect committed the criminal offence "Unauthorized production and placement on the market of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors".

According to the indictment, between February and 14 August 2026 the suspect, together with three persons who are being pursued in the Hellenic Republic, organised the acquisition, storage and transport of marijuana with a total net mass of 324 kilograms and 474 grams for the purpose of sale and distribution.

Investigators say the suspect bought a cargo truck at the end of February 2026 and a trailer in early March, and immediately set up a sham shipment of pressed recycled paper allegedly bound from the Republic of North Macedonia to the Republic of Turkey via the Republic of Bulgaria. After completing customs formalities, on 8 March 2026 the truck and trailer left Macedonian territory heading for Bulgaria; instead the vehicle was driven to the Hellenic Republic and left on a rented enclosed lot in Thessaloniki.

Plan to conceal the drugs inside bales of recycled paper

In Thessaloniki the suspect met with two of the persons under investigation in Greece — one of whom is currently not available to law enforcement — and arranged further transport once the narcotics were placed inside the recycled-paper cargo. After the drugs were procured, two of the suspects, together with as-yet unidentified individuals, allegedly inserted the marijuana into pre-cut openings in the bales between 11 and 14 August 2026.

On 14 August 2026, as part of the operation named "Vardaris", police in Greece detained two of the suspects and searched the rented lot. Officers found the trailer, from which licence plates had previously been removed. The quantity of marijuana reported above was recovered from four pallets located at the rear of the trailer and four pallets in front of them.

The public prosecutor argued the suspect poses a flight risk, could obstruct the criminal procedure by influencing accomplices or witnesses, or could reoffend. A motion for pre-trial detention was submitted to the pre-trial judge at the Basic Criminal Court Skopje; the judge granted the request and on 15 August 2026 ordered detention of the suspect for 30 days.

Photo: press material from the event