Athens is a city of nearly four million people across the wider metropolitan area, the seat of government, the courts and most of Greece's business life. It is also home to a large and growing international community: expats, foreign professionals, students, retirees and the families of people working in shipping, diplomacy and international business. When a personal or business problem arises here and you need a private investigator in Athens, local knowledge, legality and discretion matter as much as investigative skill.
Petros Drolias has worked as a licensed private investigator in Athens since the early 1990s, under licence no. 4891/7/1/90-δ’. Over more than 30 years, the office has handled more than 1,500 cases in 14 countries, for individuals, businesses, law firms, insurers and shipping companies. We know the city, its neighbourhoods and its institutions, and we work with international clients in English.
Our office in central Athens
The office is at 104 Aiolou Street, 105 64 Athens, in the historic commercial centre, a few minutes' walk from Omonia metro station. Omonia is served by metro lines 1 and 2, which makes the office easy to reach from Piraeus, Kifisia, the southern suburbs and the airport via a change of line at Syntagma or Monastiraki.
Meetings are by appointment, so you will not wait in a public reception area. If you prefer not to come to the office, we can meet at a discreet location elsewhere, or hold the consultation by phone or video call. Many international clients start with a video call and only meet in person later, if at all.
We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Private matters rarely arise during office hours, and some situations, such as a missing person or a threat, cannot wait until Monday.
Areas of Athens and Attica we cover
A detective in Athens needs to move easily across a large and varied metropolitan area. We work throughout Attica, including:
- The centre: Omonia, Syntagma, Kolonaki, Exarchia, Pangrati, Koukaki, Plaka and the surrounding districts.
- The northern suburbs: Marousi, Chalandri, Kifisia, Nea Erythraia, Psychiko, Filothei, Agia Paraskevi and Vrilissia, where many international families and corporate offices are based.
- The southern suburbs: Palaio Faliro, Glyfada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Alimos and Elliniko, home to many shipping offices and expat residents.
- The eastern suburbs and Mesogeia: Gerakas, Pallini, Spata and the areas around the airport, as well as Rafina and the east coast.
- The western suburbs: Peristeri, Aigaleo, Ilion and the industrial and logistics zones further west towards Aspropyrgos and Elefsina.
- Piraeus and the port area, covered in more detail on our Piraeus page.
Beyond Attica, we work across Greece, including Thessaloniki, and abroad through our network of collaborators.
The cases we handle in Athens
Athens concentrates almost every type of case we see, because it concentrates people, businesses and institutions.
Private and family matters. Doubts about a partner, pre-marital checks, inheritance disputes involving property in Athens or the provinces, adults who have lost contact with family and debtors who have moved. Expats and foreign nationals with Greek partners often turn to us when they need someone who understands both the local context and their own perspective.
Business investigations. Athens is where most Greek companies, and most foreign companies operating in Greece, have their headquarters. We carry out due diligence on Greek partners, internal fraud investigations, leak investigations and counterfeit product enquiries. See our corporate investigations service.
Litigation support. The main courts of Athens hear a large share of the country's civil, family and commercial cases. Lawyers instruct us to gather evidence, trace witnesses and research backgrounds, and foreign law firms rely on us when their clients have a matter here.
Victims of crime and visitors. Millions of visitors pass through Athens each year. When a tourist or business traveller is the victim of theft, assault or a road accident, we can gather evidence and follow up on the ground after they have returned home.
Counter-surveillance and digital threats. Sweeps of offices, homes and hotel suites before sensitive meetings, checks of phones for spyware and online investigations into stalking, harassment and blackmail.
Teenagers and families. Parents in Athens and international families whose children study or spend time in the city ask for discreet help when they are worried about drugs, gangs, bullying or online risks.
Why work with a licensed investigator in Athens
Anyone can advertise investigative services online, and some promise results that can only be achieved illegally, such as phone tapping or account hacking. In Greece these are criminal offences under Article 370A of the Penal Code, and Article 19(3) of the Constitution makes illegally obtained evidence inadmissible. A client who relies on such methods risks both prosecution and the collapse of their own case.
A licensed private investigator works within the law, including the GDPR and Greek Law 4624/2019, and that is precisely why the findings can be used by you, your lawyer or a court. We use observation in public places, public registries, open-source research and lawful field enquiries, and we explain from the start what is possible and what is not.
Meeting discreetly in a busy city
The centre of Athens has an advantage that many clients appreciate: it is busy. A visit to an office building on Aiolou Street, among shops, banks and professional offices, attracts no attention. For clients who prefer even more discretion, a phone or video consultation means no one needs to know you have spoken to an investigator at all.
How a case starts in Athens
Every case begins with a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation, at the office, by phone or by video call. We listen, ask the questions that matter and tell you honestly whether an investigation is the right step. If it is, you receive a written plan and a written cost estimate before any work begins.
During the investigation you are updated at agreed intervals. At the end, you receive a structured written report with findings, a chronology and, where relevant, photographs or video taken lawfully in public places, in English or Greek as you prefer.
Contact a private investigator in Athens
Call us 24/7 on 210 321 2200 or 699 321 2200 (+30 from abroad), write to contact@ldi.gr, send a confidential message through our contact page or book a consultation at our office near Omonia.