An extensive investigation by the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DAOE) has dismantled a human trafficking network accused of enslaving and exploiting migrants, mostly from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. According to police sources, the victims were forced to work under constant threats of violence, housed in overcrowded, unsanitary spaces, and received almost no pay. [1], [2].
During a coordinated operation across the country, authorities detained 170 individuals and arrested 13, including the 40-year-old alleged ringleader and a 29-year-old woman who acted as a recruiter, luring victims through social media — primarily TikTok. She targeted men from Nepal who were already working legally in Balkan countries, especially Romania, promising better living conditions and higher wages in Greece.
The ring had been active for about a year, operating out of a Pakistani restaurant on Acharnon Street in Athens.
Once in the country, the victims were taken to apartments where their passports were seized, before being transported to agricultural regions such as Argolida, Ilia, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia, Larissa, and Boeotia.
The group’s operations center was a Pakistani-owned restaurant on Acharnon Street in central Athens, where members allegedly met, coordinated activities, and stored the victims’ confiscated travel documents. Police also seized vehicles, cash, passports, and quantities of toxic substances during the raids.
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