Three of the eight suspects are from Georgia, two from Uzbekistan, one each from Russia and Albania, and one Greek national from Thessaloniki.
The criminal organization is largely composed of Pontic Greeks. A lot of Pontic Greeks immigrated from Georgia, Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan and are now mostly based in Thessaloniki. Certain Pontic criminal organizations are highly involved in for instance the illegal tobacco trade (Pontic communities in Georgia settled very close to the tobacco farming heartlands) and one big time smuggling group from Thessaloniki has come into conflict with another well known organization from Athens that was traditionally highly involved in the illegal tobacco smuggling business as well.
