THESSALONIKI – A council of appeals judges in Thessaloniki approved the extradition to France of a 35-year-old Greek on charges of involvement in a drug ring, it was announced on Wednesday, while he appealed the decision.

The case involves the transport on a sailboat of 1.7 tons of cocaine from Latin America to a southern French coast in June 2017.

The man was arrested in Thessaloniki in October following a French-issued arrest warrant, apparently naming him after the deposition of a Bulgarian codefendant in the case. A total of 11 people have been arrested in the case, involving several nationalities and more than one Greek. According to French authorities, the same drug ring had also attempted to import large loads of cocaine in 2016 and 2018.

Following the approval of the Thessaloniki judges for extradition, the man appealed and his case will be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Greece while he remains in detention.