ATHENS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Greek ship owner, football club owner and media mogul Vangelis Marinakis and three of his associates have been charged in a major drug trafficking case, Greek national news agency AMNA reported late Friday.

The businessman, who owns Olympiakos Piraeus football club and one of Greece's largest media groups, strongly decried the "plot" against him, in a statement issued on Saturday.

A Piraeus prosecutor brought the charges against Marinakis following marathon police and judicial investigations in connection with the case of "Noor 1", a ship which was intercepted in 2014 off the port of Piraeus carrying about one ton of heroin.

As the members of the crew and the Greek owner of the vessel were arrested and faced justice, the probes continued on the money trail in the case, revealing links to Marinakis and his associates, according to the investigators.

The Greek entrepreneur strongly dismissed the charges against him as "a plot", claiming that members of the current government have targeted him.

"I am absolutely certain that the result of the procedure will be the proof of my innocence. There is not the least evidence against me," he said in the statement. Enditem

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