Undercover Europol agents deployed at Greek hot spots to filter out extremists, smugglers.

Undercover Europol agents deployed at Greek hot spots to filter out extremists, smugglers. (Ekathimerini).

European police agency Europol has deployed a team of undercover agents across Greece’s migrant registration centers, or hot spots, with the aim of stopping the infiltration of ISIS operatives and curbing the activity of other criminal networks, Kathimerini has learned.

In an interview with Kathimerini’s Sunday edition, Robert Crepinko, the Slovenian director of Europol’s newly-launched European Migrant Smuggling Center (EMSC), said that 10 undercover officers are currently stationed on the Aegean islands of Lesvos, Samos, Chios and Leros, as well as the port of Piraeus, with the task of checking suspicious immigrants against Europol’s databases in the Netherlands.

“Together with the Greek authorities we are doing secondary security checks to assess the possibly dangerous migrants before they would enter the EU,” Crepinko said.

On top of filtering out suspected extremists, Crepinko said, the operation aims to support Greek authorities in other areas related to organized crime and migrant smuggling.

The operation was decided at the emergency summit of EU interior ministers following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris in November. Athens was represented by Citizens’ Protection Minister Nikos Toskas.

The Slovenian official said the entire process had to be readjusted following a recent EU deal with Ankara to stem migrant flows across the Aegean.

“We are looking into possible new routes that the migrant smuggling networks would use and we already have some developments in the new routes that have been used by organized crime,” he said, citing intelligence that smuggling networks are exploring options through Albania and Bulgaria.

Crepinko added that talks are ongoing with Citizens’ Protection Ministry officials to clarify technical details regarding the quick routing of information coming from the hot spots to the Europol database, while respecting Greece’s data protection rules and law enforcement information exchange.

“We are negotiating the terms of Europol activities in Greece and I hope at the end of this process we will be able to find a working solution,” Crepinko said.

Chechen Authorities declare Chechen fighters in Syria to be volunteers.

Chechen Authorities declare Chechen fighters in Syria to be volunteers. (Caucasian Knot).

In the rear of the "Islamic State" (IS), not the Chechen spetsnaz (special troops) are operating, but just "self-organized groups of young people," who "risk their lives and suffer losses," representatives of the republic's leadership have admitted. 

Chechen volunteers are in a difficult situation in Syria, according to contradictory statements by Ramzan Kadyrov, and the data of the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Kadyrov said that Chechen spetsnaz is operating in Syria in the rear of the IS militants.

According to Vladimir Komoedov, Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Russian State Duma, the Parliament "knows nothing about the participation of Chechen spetsnaz in warfare in Syria," the Radio "Echo Moskvy" has quoted.

No Russian army servicemen or MIA (Ministry of Internal Affairs) policemen are among the group of natives of Chechnya, who operate in the rear of the IS, said a source in the republic's leadership, adding that Chechen volunteers "present themselves as IS supporters."

Not a single law enforcer from the Chechen Republic is in Syria and Iraq, said Alvi Karimov, the press secretary of the head of Chechnya.

After Kadyrov's words, the territory controlled by the IS will see a total check of all Chechen natives, suggested a retired officer of the Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (known as SVR).

Meanwhile, the "Novaya Gazeta" writes, citing its own sources, that about 20 former servicemen of the battalion "Sever" (North), sacked last October, could have been sent to Syria.

On December 2, 2015, the IS posted a video depicting an execution of a man, who was presented as a native of Grozny, (See picture on top of post)  who had collaborated with Russian secret services; the video also contained threats to authorities and people of the Russian Federation.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

#Chechen special forces were training in #Jordan vs #ISIS as early as 2014#Russia #Syriahttps://t.co/0jgAp2M87b pic.twitter.com/wC7SYEEijL

— маяковский (@moscow_ghost) February 12, 2016

Razman Kadyrov reports on undercover work of Chechen special forces in Syria.

Razman Kadyrov reports on under cover work of Chechen special forces in Syria. (CN).

In the territory of Syria, in the rear of the militants of the "Islamic State" (IS), fighters of the Chechen special forces are operating, said the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, adding that the Chechen fighters had been trained at the centre of special forces near the village of Tsentoroi.

"It's time to report on those, who ensure the success of Russian aircrafts on the ground at the cost of their own lives," said the story about the Chechen special forces, screened on February 7 in the programme "News of the Week" on TV Channel "Russia-1". This story was a preview of the documentary by Alexander Rogatkin, which will be released in the programme "Special Correspondent" on February 10.

Kadyrov's voice off-screen says that they managed to create an extensive network of agents right in the IS, the portal "Medusa" reports.

"Best fighters of the republic were sent there. They gather information about the structure and the number of terrorists, define the targets for bombing and fix the outcomes thereof," said the head of Chechnya.

He said that at the beginning of the war in Syria intelligence agents from Chechnya were sent, under the cover, to training camps where fighters, who profess Wahhabism, were trained.

The Kremlin refused to comment on the story, referring to the information, earlier disseminated by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Ramzan Kadyrov's statement that Chechen spetsnaz (special troops) is at war in Syria should be treated with scepticism, said Reserve Colonel Victor Murakhovskiy and Andrei Koshkin, a military political analyst. If Kadyrov is telling the truth, then he has actually "exposed" his spetsnaz to the fighters of the "Islamic State" (IS), said Alexei Malashenko, a member of the Scientific Council of the Moscow Carnegie Centre.

As noted by Victor Murakhovskiy, who is also the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Fatherland's Arsenal", Kadyrov "doesn't command any spetsnaz units of the Russia's Armed Forces."

Alexei Malashenko treated Kadyrov's statement as a political promotion (PR) action, noting that he is "sceptical about any real action of the Chechen spetsnaz possible on the territory controlled by the IS." Nevertheless, the expert has noted that "many Chechens went to fight in Syria on the side of the IS."

Andrei Koshkin, a member of the Association of Military Political Analysts, who also heads the Division of Political Science and Sociology of the G. V. Plekhanov Russian Economic University, has admitted that "even if Kadyrov's words are true, then this is only a private initiative."

In 2014, power agents and residents of Chechnya reported sending Chechen spetsnaz to the border with Ukraine. In May 2014, Kadyrov confirmed the presence of natives of Chechnya in the conflict zone in Ukraine; however, he treated an organized sending of Chechen spetsnaz there as an "absolute lie".

Source: http://eng.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/34541/