The 4 suspicious robberies and the three wanted for the Cores of Fire

Four mammoth robberies in cities of western Greece with a bounty of almost 1.2mil euros, are under the microscope of the antiterrorism unit as it is estimated that they were done by members of the modern urban guerilla warfare groups aiming to strengthen the «revolutionary» fund.

The hits at the National Bank branches in Patra with a bounty of 500.000 euros, in Aigio with 250.000, in Preveza 190.000 and in Agrinio with 240.000, show that they are not dealing with common criminals and for this reason, all the files have been transferred to the antiterrorist unit offices.

At the same time, the arrest of Michalis Nikolopoulos and his confession, along with that of fellow arrestee Gerasimos Tsakalos, that they belong to the Cores of Fire, is opening new paths for the police as they are targeting 3 new persons, probably from the operational part of the organization. According to sources, they will organize the next hits so their arrest is of crucial importance.

Meanwhile, 5 persons of around 40 years of age are also under the microscope of the police and according to officers, they are the directorate of the modern urban guerilla warfare groups and recruiters from the Exarheia tank.

The 4 suspicious robberies

The last robbery, for which there are suspicions that it was committed by indigenous armed organizations, was carried on Friday January 21 in Patra. The action plan was specific. They smashed the front windows with sledgehammers and wearing black clothes and helmets, they snatched 500.00 euros. A few days earlier, the branch at Aigio was hit and they took 250.000 euros in the same way. Eyewitnesses say they disappeared in jeeps and that some were carrying Kalashnikovs.  

On October 15, a similar big robbery took place in the branch of Panagopoulou Square in Agrinio. After smashing the windows, the thieves took the money that a bank clerk was feeding into an ATM.  

Lastly, on June 25 one more hit was executed at the National Bank branch of Preveza by 3 people with helmets and sledgehammers and with a bounty of 190.00 euros. They got away on two bikes, one of which was found later (stolen with fake plates).