Adelaide grandmother, 82, is charged for allegedly attempting to importing cocaine
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The ‘lovely’ grandmother of six, 82, charged with an alleged $3.2 million cocaine smuggling plot alongside her grandson lashes out at the allegations: ‘I’ve never touched drugs’
- Evdocia ‘Effie’ Phelivanidis, 82, from Adelaide, charged with alleged drug offense
- Her 30-year-old grandson, who lives with her, has also been charged.
- Says she ‘has no idea’ why she was arrested and ‘never touched drugs’
An 82-year-old grandmother of six who has been charged with allegedly importing $3.2 million worth of cocaine has claimed she is innocent and has “never touched a cigarette”.
Evdocia ‘Effie’ Phelivanidis, from Adelaide, was charged along with her grandson Kosta Phelivanidis, 30, after South Australian Police raided their 56-year-old home on Wednesday.
Police will allege that the octogenarian, described by neighbors as a “lovely lady who loves to sew”, was part of a drug syndicate trying to import at least 8kg of cocaine.
But after being released on bail, the mother of two said Channel Seven she “had no idea” about the cocaine in her house and “has never touched drugs, not even a cigarette.”
Evdocia ‘Effie’ Phelivanidis (pictured) from Adelaide, was charged along with her grandson Kosta Phelivanidis, 30, after South Australian police raided their 56-year-old home on Wednesday.
She said police found a box at her home that allegedly contained illegal drugs, but she “didn’t know” why it was there.
“It was just a box with sticks in it, I don’t know,” said the Greek-born grandmother of six.
‘I don’t know [if it was dropped] by the man at the post office or by a different man.’ she added.
Phelivanidis and her grandson, who lives with her, were charged with attempting to traffic a large commercial amount of cocaine on Wednesday and he will appear at Adelaide Magistrates Court in April.
Phelivanidis and his grandson Kosta (pictured) were charged with attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of cocaine on Wednesday and will appear at Adelaide Magistrates Court in April.
“This is yet another example of the unwavering determination of Serious and Organized Crime Section detectives to stem the flow of dangerous illicit drugs into South Australia,” said Detective Superintendent Billy Thompson, Crime Section Officer in Charge. Serious and Organized.
Friends added to Channel 7 that Phelivanidis was a “really lovely lady” and suffered from memory and health problems after the death of her 85-year-old husband, also known as Kostas, four years ago.
We are all shocked. When I heard the news I was like “no way, not Effie”. I wouldn’t have thought she knew what she was,” a neighbor said.
Officers from the Special Tasks and Rescue Group (pictured) raided the sandstone house on Wednesday and took Kostas out in handcuffs.
Another neighbor described her as a ‘hungry sewer’ who ‘loves her family’ and uses a walker to ‘ride down the street and hug her friends’.
Officers from the Special Tasks and Rescue Group raided the brownstone house on Wednesday and brought Kostas out in handcuffs.
In South Australia, the maximum penalty if convicted of trafficking a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug, such as cocaine, is life imprisonment, a $1 million fine, or both.