Recently, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) announced the prosecution of six individuals of participating in a cross-border criminal network, including two Greek customs officials. The network is accused of smuggling large quantities of Chinese-made electric bicycles, textiles, and into the EU market through systematic fraud, evading customs duties and value-added tax (VAT) by over 700 million euros.

The operation, codamed "Investigation Calypso," set a record for the largest container seizure in EU history, with 2,435 containers seized in the largest Greek port Piraeus, with goods valued at least 250 million euros.

The criminal network exposed: an eight-year fraud chain covering the entire China-E trade chain

EPPO investigations show that the criminal group has been manipulating trade fraud between China and Europe for a long time. By falsely declaring the quantity and value of goods they avoid anti-dumping duties. For instance, a single container actually contains 6-10 times the number of electric bicycles declared, resulting in a loss of over 5 million euros in customs duties and 12.5 million euros in VAT for the EU budget.

The criminal network involves Chinese suppliers, Greek customs officials, freight forward, and European distributors, forming a closed loop of "production-smuggling-money laundering-sales."

At the end of June 2025, joint operation by several EU countries arrested 10 suspects, including four freight forwarders accused of long-term forgery of customs declaration documents, causing a financial loss to the EU more than 871,000 euros. At present, five of the defendants are still in custody.

The details of the seizure operation: 2,35 containers exposed systematic fraud

The first 500 containers were seized during a surprise operation in June, and another 1,935 containers in transit wereed after arriving at the Port of Piraeus.

Electric bicycles: at least 500 containers were involved, with 360 undecl, and the average declaration rate was only 10%-15% of the actual quantity; textiles and shoes were subject to large-scale under-reporting of values with some goods declared at less than 20% of the actual market price.

The Greek customs authorities only opened a small number of containers to discover violations, and a inspection would require mobilizing the national customs force, and there is also a risk of undeclared dangerous goods.

The EU's financial blow: losses of over800 million euros in eight years

EPPO estimates that the criminal network has caused at least 350 million euros in customs losses and 450 euros in VAT losses since 2017, with a special duty loss of 250 million euros on Chinese electric bicycles.

After the operation, the rate compliant declarations by importers in Piraeus Port significantly increased. In July 2025, Greek customs revenue reached 143 million euros, a yearon-year increase of 2.2%.

It is reported that all the suspects enjoy the presumption of innocence and the cases will be heard by the courts of EU states.