The Crete Files: Bloody Vendettas & Organized Crime
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To Greeks, the island of Crete is thought to be a scenic holiday location - albeit isolated by a particularly wide expanse of the Mediterranean sea. It is an island with a great history and a unique polymorphic landscape. As a girl, I remember hearing stories of the oddity of Crete’s inhabitants and of the amazing and unusual things that occurred there.
One summer, I visited the sleepy town of Ierapetra with my family. As I can recall, the Cretans were a kind and hospitable people with a talent for cooking – even by Greek standards. It’s common knowledge in Greece that Cretans are old-fashioned charming folks, keeping traditions as they go. Being very young (I believe I was only 5 when I visited Crete), I had wondered with some interest why so many of the Cretans dressed entirely in black. It was as if the entire island was perpetually trapped in the throes of some unspeakable tragedy. A childish thought to be sure, but I came to realize that Crete was indeed more tragic than one might have imagined.
I grew up, left for university and forgot all about Crete and its place in my childhood fantasies. That was, until I met a great deal of Cretan students, displaced from the native island for higher education in Athens. Half jokingly (though certainly exaggerated), these Cretans would often speak of mountain villages across their island in which “no cop sets foot”, where the villagers “own guns like they own shirts”, etc. Of course, I believed them; this kind of story rested well with the stories of my youth and in many ways Crete is something of an anachronism.
I already was aware of the retaliation situation there, also known as vendettas. The stories were many but always revolved around the same core; somebody’s son/brother/father was accidentally shot in a hunting or wedding accident. From that point on, a circle of retaliation and counter-retaliation would begin. Some of these vendettas would last for years – long after the initial incident had been forgotten – leaving future generations with a tradition of pointless bloodletting.
The wedding version of the story is the most commonly known in Crete. Cretans tend to celebrate their weddings with a massive feast, blasting music and dancing until the early hours. On such occasions, Cretans often shoot their guns in the air. After a bit too much moonshine raki and countless tomato meatballs, it’s only natural that not all of the stray bullets land safely. In Greece, such unfortunate accidents are not uncommon to hear about on the 8 o’clock evening news.
Yet there is another side to Crete, wherein guns play a more prominent (though equally lethal) role. As I said, my Cretan friends exaggerated most of the time, but the essence if their stories was that in Crete, in several mountain villages, the inhabitants grow marijuana. Away from the snooping eyes of policemen, the villagers in these towns are both heavily armed and prepared to defend their illicit industry.
Knowing this, the following story should not come as a surprise:
Earlier this month on November 5, a Greek police convoy decided to direct their patrol through the village of Zoniana in the Cretan mountains. That is to say, these police were stationed at least five or six villages away since (as I mentioned above) a place in which no cop would set foot certainly would not have a local police station… As they were closed in from the main road in their fancy cars, a storm of bullets suddenly began to rain upon them from all directions! A dozen villagers were hidden in strategic locations across the mountains and had opened fired as soon as they spotted the police. Though they attempted to defend themselves, the police soon realized the futility of their cause and sped off – but only after several of their men were wounded, one of whom remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.
Two weeks after constant debate on television as to how can a country of modern E.U. still have these kinds of luben (excuse my language) villages, the District Attorney ordered a full search of the village and the surrounding area. Until now, the police raids in villages are constant with a force of sometimes even 70 men. Countless marijuana plants have been confiscated in subsequent raids, along with hordes of illegal arms (including stores of Kalashnikov rifles) and dozens of villagers have been called in for questioning. As of now, police are focusing their attention on six men believed to be the ringleaders of the illegal activity ranging from drug-dealing to money laundering, but developments in the case are emerging constantly.
I find these events very interesting… Something that I learned from friends at university has been unfolding before my eyes. Nevertheless, it poses an important question I cannot ignore; if I knew that something illegal has been going on in Crete for years, didn’t the police also know? This case is vastly more serious than typical matters of domestic crime and we cannot discount the possibility of police participation – something along the lines of mafia-style organized crime with a Hellenistic flair. How is this any different than the situation in places such as Naples, Sicily and such areas where the organized crime scene thrives?
If one is to assume that the police knew what was going on and decided to put an end to it, why send only a handful of policemen? Perhaps they had underestimated the power of the operation… Perhaps they were angry because the villagers failed to bribe them… Or perhaps they truly were oblivious. I am afraid that the scenarios are too many and too wild to reach a sane and well balanced conclusion. However, this is an important question and I am glad to say that many journalists and police officials themselves are beginning to ask this question. We must not forget that even from the first week, there was word that someone from within the police had warned the villagers of Zoniana of the police patrol in advance… [slow, dark music fading out…]
* Ilektra Mandragou is an Industrial Design graduate student and the Senior Hellenistic Attaché for harmonicminor.com.
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If the food is better than Greek, you have my attention.
Very interesting post. It could be a screenplay.
Comment by Renegade Eye — November 26, 2007 @ 5:05 am
wow, I had no idea!m’efage i ksenitia.and yes it WOULD make a very good screenplay
Comment by eleanna — November 26, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Yes, this could be a screenplay but what is even scarier is that it is real life!! Good old Cretans…
Comment by ilektra — November 26, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
It is good it is screenplay, etc…but it contains some insignificant inaccuracies, like: ouzo??? Cretans always enjoy the thousands of tonnes of their finest raki/tsipouro, produced, sold and consumed in an illegal chain of millions euros…; Cretan mountaineers, renowned indeed for their hospitality, ALWAYS shoot in the air during weddings!
My alternative/additional epilogue: “Recently there has been resolution on police possible participation and/or incompetence: most regional police directors have been replaced, while the investigation is touching upon the high Athenian ranks. However, people say it does not touch upon pointed regional MPs and political leaders, notably of the PM’s environment. Imagine that it all took place accidentally, because of a failed routine road check on drugs trade. What everybody omits mentioning is that the only difference between the Cretan gangs and their rest-of-Greece-Europe counterparts the immense gun power they possess!
Comment by stefanos — November 26, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
The ouzo reference is my fault… Ilektra had written “a few too many drinks” and I thought it would be more interesting to name the drink specifically - but I should have known tsipouro (I had plenty of it this summer).
Comment by Kris Petersen — November 27, 2007 @ 10:07 am
I liked that your title is “Senior Hellenistic Attaché for harmonicminor.com” that’s funny!
Great article too!
Comment by Lotte Petersen — November 27, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
you didnt understand othing about crete.
things like that happen every were not only crete.so we have some drugs and delers. athens no?usa no?italy no? why dont police go to athens were some places is more easy to find drugs than icecreem? why do most greeks now about kolokotronis and not daskalogiannis?
we were black for the dead that died for greeces freedom. we have guns because in most of the wars we waited for the greek army and it never came.
yes we are proud to be cretans but we are greek also. maybe we are even the more patriotic of all the greeks.
we have bad people but its a small number. we stay paisant like alot saay but we can be educated also.
yesterday we were heros now we are mafia because some did stupid things. why when we say we ar e from crete the answer is : were is your gun or can i have some hasis. why when you talk about cretans people says always the word wisky or gun in the same phrase?
i don’t now but i love crete with the good and with the bad.
i have a gun i most of the time dress in black i dont shave alots my family is voskoi and agrotes 8i dont now to say it in english)but you now what i can speek english i ahve education. idrink wisky but not more than any one else. people like this or not i am proud to be from crete and my family and me and teh rest of cretans are what we are. if some dont like it ok but maybe they should look at some other parts of greece and maybe they will understand that there is worst also.
Comment by iason — July 18, 2008 @ 12:38 am
Bravo Iasona…nicely said. After what happened in Zwniana, everyone thought Cretans, especially those from Mylopotamos were a bunch of backward savages, illiterate, and all drug dealers. I am a regular there…I visit Milopotamos every time I am in Greece and some of the nicest, most hospitable people I have come across in Greece are from Milopotamos. They are educated, hardworking and very proud. And we don’t drink Ouzo in Crete…we drink Raki. And firing guns at weddings is a tradition that goes back generations. Most vendettas are not caused by someone getting accidentally shot because of too much ‘whiskey’. And I’ve never had a meatball drenched in tomato sauce at a wedding, restaurant, family member’s house or anywhere else on the island for that matter. And to actually speak to the inhabitants of these towns, one would soon discover that YES the police knew what was going on and they have for years. Not everone is involved in illegal operations that take place there. Most people are hardworking people that earn their buck in most legitimate and respectful ways. Perhaps the raid was like the author mentioned, a result of some much needed people, not getting their monthly ‘dues’. If I was a gambling woman anyways…..
Comment by Kaliopi — July 24, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
Firstly, I want to say that I never generalized about the entire population of Crete. Secondly, I know the University of Heraklion to be one of the best Greek universities (but education really has nothing to do with my article). As I wrote, the people are very hispitable and warm-hearted people, but they are also hot-headed. Is this not true? Where is senseless Greek machismo more alive than in Crete? Why when we hear of vendettas in rural Italian villages, we call them backwards… but when it comes to the same events in Greek villages, (apparently) its something not worth mentioning.
Everyone in Crete knows what goes on there and everyone keeps silent. But when a little bit is revealed, everyone rushes to dettach themselves from it in every way - even knowledge of it.
If you disagree that Cretans are hot-headed and machismo, fine. But for many of them to persist with this “my gun is big and so is my dick” mentality… this is definitely backwards.
P.S. I agree… In Crete, you wouldn’t have eaten a “meatball drenched in tomato sauce” - you would have eaten tomatokeftedes (tomato meatballs, as I wrote). And as to the ouzo reference, you would have seen that error was already acknowledged and was not mine to begin with.
Comment by Ilektra Mandragou — July 25, 2008 @ 8:17 am