ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police said on Thursday they had dismantled a far-right criminal group linked to robberies, assaults and violence with a racist motive in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
After a months-long investigation, police said they arrested on Wednesday 28 members of the alleged criminal gang, operating under the name Nationalist Youth of Thessaloniki or Defend Salonika, 13 minors among them.
The group spent its revenue from membership fees on banners, helmets, flares and batons which its members used for activism as well as criminal acts, police officials said. Their targets included people with leftist or anti-establishment views, the officials said.
The investigation found that the core members of the group, which was active in 2019 but re-emerged in 2024, planned their acts through a mobile application to avoid police attention.
The adults had a leading role in the group that tried to recruit new members, mainly minors, police said. The members used a large number of social media accounts to spread their far-right beliefs, while revealing their criminal acts.
Greece in 2020, following a five-year political trial, declared the far-right party Golden Dawn a criminal gang linked to a string of hate crimes, including the killing of a left-wing rapper in 2013. Golden Dawn emerged from obscurity during the country’s financial crisis.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis. Editing by Mark Potter)
