Another 47 people were placed under arrest following yet another police sweep to clean up petty crime in central Athens on Thursday evening, following a similar operation on Wednesday.

Police patrols carried out 980 spot checks on individuals, 203 vehicles and 16 shops in the city centre, detaining a total of 326 people and arresting 47.

Of those arrested, 24 face drug-related charges, one was an illegal migrant and now faces deportation, three were arrested for illegal gambling and three had outstanding court convictions for theft and six people were charged with violating laws on prostitution.

Police confiscated various small quantities of cannabis and heroin, and 299 narcotic pills and wrote out 83 tickets for traffic violations.

The raids also led to the discovery of a 1,000 square metre warehouse on Constantinoupoleos Street containing large quantities of counterfeit brand-name clothing. A further 1009 contraband and counterfeit goods were confiscated during inspections by mixed teams of state police and municipal police.