Greek police arrest 68 in crackdown on tourist crime
08 Aug 2008 14:28:14 GMT Source: Reuters
By Daniel Flynn and Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Authorities on the Mediterranean island of Crete have arrested 68 people, many of them foreign tourists under 18, in a crackdown on binge-drinking and crime at Greece's coastal resorts, police officials said on Friday. Tourism Minister Aris Spiliotopoulos vowed last week to clean up Greece's tourism sector after a 20-year-old Australian died following a beating from nightclub bouncers on the Aegean island of Mykonos. Police made the arrests at the package holiday resorts of Hersonissos and Malia in northern Crete on Thursday night and early on Friday, said the officials who asked not to be named. Several of those arrested were foreign tourists, including British, French, Dutch and Danish citizens. The suspects were charged with 441 offences, including under-age drinking, public indecency, and the use of unlicensed security guards. "One Danish tourist was arrested for running around naked," a police official said. "Some Greeks and foreigners were drunk or naked at clubs and harassing young women." Tourism accounts for nearly one-fifth of Greece's economy. Spiliotopoulos had expressed concern that reports of violence and indecency could tarnish the sector's reputation. The minister urged the Interior Ministry in a letter this week to do more to prevent resort crime and crackdown on the use of unlicensed security guards, said a tourist ministry official. "We hope they will continue taking action," said the official, who declined to be identified. Mykonos Mayor Xristos Beronis said police on the island, which welcomes more than a million visitors during the summer, were imposing stricter controls on nightclubs after Australian Doujon Zammit was brutally beaten by security guards last week. "Since the incident, 80 percent of the bars in Mykonos have sacked their bouncers on our recommendation," he told Reuters. Britons account for around a fifth of the 15 million tourists who visit Greece every year, gaining a reputation with locals for drunken and occasionally violent behaviour. Last year, Malia residents staged a march against British tourists. Spiliotopoulos said many of the incidents at Greek resorts were caused by bar owners blending industrial alcohol with drinks, to make concoctions known as "bombs". A 17-year-old Briton died on the island of Zakynthos last month after a apparently drinking such a lethal mix. (Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou, Writing by Daniel Flynn; edited by Richard Meares)
A tanker from Greece containing 40,000 cubic metres of drinking water remains anchored in Limassol, southern Cyprus in this July 21, 2008 file photo. To match WITNESS CYPRUS-WATER/ REUTERS/Pavlos Vryonides/Files (CYPRUS) ...
