Dubbed the Bulgarian Escobar, Ognian Atanasov is being extradited to Greece where he will be returned to prison following his escape from the agricultural prison of Kassandra, Chalkidiki, twenty one years ago.
Authorities made the announcement on Sunday about his return to Greece from Bulgaria where he was serving a sentence for different crimes.
In August 2010, the Greek authorities requested the extradition of "The Phantom", which the Bulgarians accepted on the condition that he first concluded his sentence in his home country.
He is currently held in remand in Thessaloniki, pending trial for 5 out of 7 arrest warrants issued in his name.
Atanasov, 56, also called the "Bulgarian Escobar" and the "Phantom of the Strymonas Valley", had been sentenced in the mid-90s to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of trafficking 2.5 kilos of heroine. He is now returning to Greece to appear before a court on new charges of drug trafficking, for actions that became known to the Greek authorities after his escape in 1998.
