The Guardian on 23rd March reported that Evangelos Marinakis, has been charged with drug trafficking in a heroin smuggling case that has shocked Greece, and following a 3-year investigation into the Noor 1, a tanker intercepted in the port of Piraeus carrying 2.1 tonnes of heroin in 2014. Marinakis, 50, was also charged with financing an illegal operation. In a statement also carried on the website of Olympiakos, the Greek football champions, whom Marinakis also owns, Marinakis denies the charges and describes them as an attempt at “character assignation” by the Greek government.