Evdocia ‘Effie’ Pehlivanidis, 82, from Adelaide, has been charged with smuggling cocaine after South Australia police raided her home of 56 years on Wednesday.
The grandmother of six, was charged with allegedly importing $3.2 million worth of cocaine alongside her 30-year-old grandson Kostas Pehlivanidis, 30, who lives with her.
Mrs Pehlivanidis insists on her innocence and says she “has no idea” why she was arrested and that she has “never touched drugs… never even touched a cigarette”.
Even though neighbours and friends describe the Greek Australian woman as a “lovely lady who loves to sew” and “has several health issues and memory problems”, police allege the octogenarian was part of a drug syndicate who were attempting to import at least 8kg of cocaine in the Australian market.
“We’re all shocked. When I heard the news I thought ‘no way, not Effie’,” another neighbour told Channel 7, adding that “I would not have thought she knew what it was”.
The yiayia who had taken her grandson in when her husband, also named Kostas, passed away four years ago, has since been released on bail.
Mrs Pehlivanidis told Channel 7 she had “no idea about any cocaine” being found in her home and that she was not aware of the contents of the box that was confiscated.
“It was just a box with sticks inside, I don’t know. I don’t know [if it was dropped] by the post office man or a different man,” she said.
Mrs Pehlivanidis and her grandson Kostas will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in April.
“This is another example of the unwavering determination of Serious and Organised Crime Branch detectives to stop the flow of dangerous illicit drugs into South Australia,” said Detective Superintendent Billy Thompson, Officer in Charge Serious and Organised Crime Branch.
In South Australia, the maximum penalty if found guilty of trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug, such as cocaine, is life imprisonment, a $1million fine or both.