Really realty good read. I expect a novel in the future and a Netflix adaptation.
Some notes:
1) "As the Noor One was approaching the island on its way to Elefsina, he said, a smaller vessel had swung past it, picked up a ton of its heroin, then went up the Adriatic toward ports near Serbia." - What ports would that be? (answer: Serbia doesn't have ports in Adriatic)
2) “I only remember him because he was really fat otherwise if he would be a normal man he probably wouldn’t get my attention,” he said. “I repeat, he was REALLY FAT."
I laughed out loud on this one :D
3) Deaths that are not mentioned here are those of product users. I mean seizure affect price which affect what heroin gets cut with. Users get use to diluted batch and then when a fresh shipment hits the market it catches them off guard with it's potency which leads to overdose. This is at least what I was told as the reason of death of some people I knew died from it.
4) A significant amount of cocaine has been seized recently. By significant I mean 1 ton!
Guys are Croatian, none of them had priors.
Regarding 4): Those croatian guys are just mules basicaly, 3 guys from seaside town proficient in boat sailing. Two younger guys in mid 20's and main guy who fell into some financial business / mortgage problems. They are not even part of any criminal organization, they were just hired because of their sailing skills.
That’s what I thought when I read the story, it would make a good book/film. Keep in mind that many Greeks (myself included) haven’t read all these details in any Greek newspaper ;-)
A search turned up this example of cocaine being diluted with marble powder:
> High concentrations of Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, and P were found, indicating that adulterants such as gypsum, marble powder, limestone, cement, and others must be used to increase the profitability of the illicit drug market.
Diluting a very expensive product with something very cheap and selling it for the price of the pure product would certainly be a way of increasing profits.
From what I've read, many overdoses happen when users who are used to diluted heroin get hold of pure heroin, ending up with a much bigger dose than expected.
The paper I cited notes another risk for cocaine users: "Diluting substances such as talc, plaster, lime and chalk, used to increase the volume of the drug, are not absorbed and can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as silicosis".
I have never seen coke cut up with those substances. Mannitol is mainly used in Europe. To test cocaine on how pure it is many people test it by checking how much solves in water.
That's why people take prescription opiates - it says right on the tin how much it is. With the street stuff you have to estimate the purity, even the compound, there's dozens of opiates, and sometimes people get it wrong.
In Russia (Saint Petersburg) two amateur drug dealers were charged for police murder because they didn't know they should dilute their shit, and a policeman died after using the seized goods, because they were too pure.
Bosnia basicaly doesn't have ports (besides Neum, which is not realy practical), so either Albania / Montenegro / Croatia. Most likely Albania - Kosovo - Serbia route, since it's already established heroin smuggling route.
Most likely Montenegro -> Serbia. Much easier, then going through two other countries, and Montenegro has issues (both election, and previous corruption problems).
Last time I passed through Montenegro I got stoped by two cops and they straight out asked me money (they wanted 20 euros for each), so they didn't suspend my license. (and yes, they were slavic/montenegrins and not Albanians)
I was going 64 khm/h on a 60km/h zone. They are corrupt as hell.
> Most likely Albania - Kosovo - Serbia route, since it's already established heroin smuggling route.
I assume this would require the smuggler to either be a Serbian or Kosovo citizen, or make a handover to a local person in Kosovo? A citizen of a third country cannot enter Serbia after entering Kosovo from a third country. The Serbian authorities will deny you entry and tell you to go back and enter into Serbia from one of the other countries bordering it.
Most likely Montenegro, since it is easy to move to serbia from there (plus there are serbians that live there), and the country is going through some election transition period, so things might slip through easily.
In 2006, Montenegro seceded from the union, following an independence referendum which narrowly passed, leading to the full independence of Serbia and Montenegro.
I suppose, if in the position to decision, whatever actions might improve the odds of success are on the table. You’d bribe the port, but only if you were highly confident the bribe was going to work and the port wouldn’t turn on you as soon as the mooring lines were secured.
Some notes: 1) "As the Noor One was approaching the island on its way to Elefsina, he said, a smaller vessel had swung past it, picked up a ton of its heroin, then went up the Adriatic toward ports near Serbia." - What ports would that be? (answer: Serbia doesn't have ports in Adriatic)
2) “I only remember him because he was really fat otherwise if he would be a normal man he probably wouldn’t get my attention,” he said. “I repeat, he was REALLY FAT." I laughed out loud on this one :D
3) Deaths that are not mentioned here are those of product users. I mean seizure affect price which affect what heroin gets cut with. Users get use to diluted batch and then when a fresh shipment hits the market it catches them off guard with it's potency which leads to overdose. This is at least what I was told as the reason of death of some people I knew died from it.
4) A significant amount of cocaine has been seized recently. By significant I mean 1 ton! Guys are Croatian, none of them had priors.
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13112-spanish-police-seize-cr...
As in OP's story, deaths of those involved will surely follow.