The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece) has brought charges against 6 individuals, including two customs officers, for their alleged involvement in criminal networks flooding the EU market with goods fraudulently imported from China, while evading custom duties and VAT. Following a coordinated raid at the end of June 2025, the EPPO has also seized 2,435 shipping containers at the port of Piraeus, primarily filled with e-bikes, textiles and footwear. This is the largest seizure of containers to date in the EU.
EPPO’s investigation Calypso targets several criminal networks that manage the entire circuit of goods imported from China into the EU, including distribution across member states and sales to end customers, while evading customs duties and committing large-scale VAT fraud. These networks — mainly controlled by 
nationals — are also involved in money laundering and sending the profits back to China. During a raid at the end of June 2025 in four countries, ten suspects were arrested.
Following the initial evidence gathered by the Hellenic Customs of Piraeus, 2 customs officers have been charged with repeated false certification, causing unlawful gains and damage to the EU budget of over €871,000, and with abetting customs fraud. In addition, 4 customs brokers have been charged with repeated customs fraud, also involving over €871,000 in evaded duties and taxes, as well as with inciting false certification. On Sep 12, one of the customs brokers was detained; four other defendants have been detained since June.
Further evidence gathering is ongoing.
The first 500 shipping containers were seized during the raid in June. An additional 1,935 that were in transit to the EU were seized upon arrival at the port of Piraeus, bringing the total to 2,435 and making this the largest seizure of containers to date in the EU. These containers, worth an estimated €250 million, are directly linked to the alleged participants of these fraudulent schemes.
The 2,435 seized containers are currently undergoing inspection. So far, only a limited number of containers have been opened by the Greek customs authorities, all revealing similar fraudulent practices of misdeclaration and undervaluation. Opening and analyzing the content of these containers represents an unprecedented workload for Piraeus’ customs officials, in addition to a safety risk.
At least 500 containers are filled with e-bikes, 360 of which had not yet been declared to customs, but based on the known modus operandi, it can be assumed that they would have been misdeclared and heavily undervalued, in order to circumvent the payment of anti-dumping duties applicable to imports from China. On average, only 10-15% of the actual number of e-bikes in a container were declared. The damage to the EU budget for these e-bikes alone is conservatively estimated at €25 million in unpaid customs duties and €12.5 million in VAT losses.
It is suspected that the customs brokers under investigation declared the same amount of containers for importation on a monthly basis, for years.
The fraudulent mechanism had been ongoing for at least eight years, causing an estimated loss of at least €350 million in customs duties and €450 million in VAT. Since the raid in June, Greek customs authorities have observed higher compliance, with importers at the port of Piraeus declaring similar goods at prices closer to their actual value.
eppo.europa.eu/en/media/news/
nationals — are also involved in money laundering and sending the profits back to China. During a raid at the end of June 2025 in four countries, ten suspects were arrested.
Following the initial evidence gathered by the Hellenic Customs of Piraeus, 2 customs officers have been charged with repeated false certification, causing unlawful gains and damage to the EU budget of over €871,000, and with abetting customs fraud. In addition, 4 customs brokers have been charged with repeated customs fraud, also involving over €871,000 in evaded duties and taxes, as well as with inciting false certification. On Sep 12, one of the customs brokers was detained; four other defendants have been detained since June.
Further evidence gathering is ongoing.
The first 500 shipping containers were seized during the raid in June. An additional 1,935 that were in transit to the EU were seized upon arrival at the port of Piraeus, bringing the total to 2,435 and making this the largest seizure of containers to date in the EU. These containers, worth an estimated €250 million, are directly linked to the alleged participants of these fraudulent schemes.
The 2,435 seized containers are currently undergoing inspection. So far, only a limited number of containers have been opened by the Greek customs authorities, all revealing similar fraudulent practices of misdeclaration and undervaluation. Opening and analyzing the content of these containers represents an unprecedented workload for Piraeus’ customs officials, in addition to a safety risk.
At least 500 containers are filled with e-bikes, 360 of which had not yet been declared to customs, but based on the known modus operandi, it can be assumed that they would have been misdeclared and heavily undervalued, in order to circumvent the payment of anti-dumping duties applicable to imports from China. On average, only 10-15% of the actual number of e-bikes in a container were declared. The damage to the EU budget for these e-bikes alone is conservatively estimated at €25 million in unpaid customs duties and €12.5 million in VAT losses.
It is suspected that the customs brokers under investigation declared the same amount of containers for importation on a monthly basis, for years.
The fraudulent mechanism had been ongoing for at least eight years, causing an estimated loss of at least €350 million in customs duties and €450 million in VAT. Since the raid in June, Greek customs authorities have observed higher compliance, with importers at the port of Piraeus declaring similar goods at prices closer to their actual value.
eppo.europa.eu/en/media/news/
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Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
a coordinated raid by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens (Greece), Madrid (Spain), Paris (France) and Sofia (Bulgaria) has dealt a significant blow to criminal networks — mainly controlled by nationals — flooding the EU market with goods fraudulently