Heraklion: wanted man arrested at the airport

Officers of the Heraklion Airport Police Station arrested a 38-year-old Serbian national on the afternoon of Wednesday 19 August 2026, as he was preparing to travel to a European country; the arrest was announced on Friday 21 August 2026. According to Flashnews.gr, during the document check the 38-year-old produced forged identification papers, specifically a passport, an identity card and a driving licence bearing the details of a Czech citizen. The identification procedure showed that he is alleged to be wanted by the authorities of Montenegro, as a suspect for bodily harm resulting in death. Four mobile phones, 4,770 euros in cash and two watches with a total value of about 90,000 euros were found in his possession and seized, and their provenance is being investigated. The preliminary inquiry is being conducted by the Heraklion Airport Police Station.

There is a discrepancy in the source’s report which TodayGrid records rather than reproduces. The headline of the report refers to the arrested man being sought by Serbia, while the text specifies that Serbian is his nationality and that the warrant comes from the authorities of Montenegro. This article follows the version in the text, which is also the more detailed one. The presumption of innocence applies to the 38-year-old, both as regards the offences attributed to him in Greece and as regards the case for which he is alleged to be wanted abroad, and his identity is not being published. The value of the seized items, as reported by the source, is not in itself an indication of illegal provenance; establishing that is precisely the object of the investigation now under way.

For Heraklion, the incident highlights the role of the airport as a checkpoint at a time when passenger traffic peaks. Heraklion Airport handles its largest volume of international flights of the year in August, which makes the checking of travel documents a mass and at the same time critical procedure. Identifying forged documents within that flow of passengers requires cross-checking against databases rather than simple visual inspection. Over the same period the police authorities of the prefecture have also stepped up other kinds of checks: on Wednesday 19 August 2026 a case became known involving 1,044 counterfeit products and two arrests in the town. More from the area on the Heraklion page.

The next step in the case depends on the completion of the preliminary inquiry and on the formal procedure to be followed for the international dimension of the case. It has not been announced whether an extradition request has been submitted or is expected from the authorities of Montenegro, nor when the 38-year-old was or will be brought before the prosecuting authority. The question of the provenance of the money and the two watches also remains open, as does whether the forged documents were made by him or handed to him by third parties, a detail that will determine the scope of the investigation. The authorities have not made public any further details about the destination of the journey or how long he had been in Greece.