COCAINE KINGPIN CRASHES: £7m Drug Boss Nabbed After Secret Lorry Network Exposed

Stephane Hassiakos, the 54-year-old Greek-based drug kingpin, thought he was untouchable. But his secret lorry network, pumping cocaine into Leicestershire's streets, finally caught up with him 🚤. Hassiakos boasted on EncroChat about having '12 cars and two trucks' working for him, even admitting to being knackered from the seven-day grind during lockdown. Years of intel and some serious detective work by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) finally cracked his case. The evidence was damning: images of mountains of coke and cash, and messages detailing a smuggling pipeline from South America through the Netherlands and into the UK 🙩. Over eight months, Hassiakos moved 1,000kg of cocaine and £7.3m in criminal cash, all while coordinating from Greece. Detective Sergeant Chris Sewell, from EMSOU's Serious Organised Crime Team, said: "Identifying Hassiakos, extraditing and prosecuting him is hugely significant. He was operating at the highest level of organised crime." Hassiakos pleaded guilty once confronted with the mountain of evidence. Now he’s facing a long stretch behind bars.