The case followed the infiltration of the group by an undercover officer, who convinced them he could remove the drugs from the port in Thessaloniki and deliver it to their rented villa for a fee.
The Liverpool men are said to have let slip to an undercover officer that they had a direct line to the suppliers of the Lebron cocaine. Kilos of the drug with the same brand have been seized in varying quantities throughout Greece.
Another significant seizure, involving a British suspect, occurred at the end of May at a hotel in Loutraki. Greek police find 58kg of cocaine in a room rented by a 45-year-old British man, who was described as normally a permanent resident of Malaga in Spain.
All of the drugs were stamped with the same logo referencing James.
Around 300kg of that cocaine was seized when four British men, at least three who are from Merseyside, were arrested in the Greek northern city of Thessaloniki on June 9 when armed police stormed a luxury villa. The drugs were seized alongside a handgun, ammunition, mobile phones and geo-location equipment.
The illicit load had been hidden in a shipment of bananas from South America, which had arrived in Greece via Calabria, Italy. According to reports in Greece, all the bricks of cocaine in that shipment were branded with the LA Lakers star’s number.
Police in Greece have seized five shipments of cocaine worth tens of millions of Euros all stamped with the number 23, which is Lebron James’ number on the basketball court. According to reports in Greece the cocaine packaging contains the logo while the powder blocks themselves are stamped with the initials NBA, in a fake reference to the National Basketball Association.
