This Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, file photograph reveals the solar bouncing off the Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Europol says legislation enforcement authorities in six totally different international locations have joined forces to take down a “tremendous cartel” of medication traffickers controlling about one third of the cocaine commerce in Europe.
Peter Dejong/AP
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Peter Dejong/AP
This Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, file photograph reveals the solar bouncing off the Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Europol says legislation enforcement authorities in six totally different international locations have joined forces to take down a “tremendous cartel” of medication traffickers controlling about one third of the cocaine commerce in Europe.
Peter Dejong/AP
BRUSSELS — Regulation enforcement authorities in six totally different international locations have joined forces to take down a “tremendous cartel” of medication traffickers controlling about one third of the cocaine commerce in Europe, the European Union crime company mentioned on Monday.
Europol mentioned 49 suspects have been arrested throughout the investigation, with the most recent collection of raids throughout Europe and the United Arab Emirates happening between Nov. 8-19.
The company mentioned police forces concerned in “Operation Desert Gentle” focused each the “command-and-control middle and the logistical medication trafficking infrastructure in Europe.”
Over 30 metric tons (33 tons) of medication have been seized throughout the investigations run in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UAE with the help of Europol. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration additionally performed a job in bringing down the group, which was additionally concerned in cash laundering, Europol mentioned.
“The size of cocaine importation into Europe below the suspects’ management and command was huge,” Europol mentioned, including that the suspects used encrypted communications to prepare medication shipments.
The Netherlands was the nation the place a lot of the arrests have been made, with 14 suspects arrested in 2021. Europol mentioned six “high-value targets” have been arrested in Dubai.
Dutch authorities mentioned one of many suspects arrested in Dubai allegedly imported hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021. The 37-year-old man with each Dutch and Moroccan nationality can also be being prosecuted for laundering giant quantities of cash and possession of firearms. Police began investigating him after investigators cracked the encrypted messaging service Sky ECC, which is well-liked with criminals.
A 40-year-old Dutch-Bosnian citizen was additionally arrested in Dubai following an investigation based mostly on intercepted Sky messages, in keeping with Dutch police. He’s suspected of importing into Europe cocaine and uncooked supplies for the manufacturing of amphetamines.
File quantities of cocaine are being seized in Europe. Its availability on the continent has by no means been greater, with extraordinarily excessive purity and low costs.
Greater than 214 tons of cocaine have been seized within the area in 2020, a 6% enhance from the earlier 12 months, and consultants from the European Monitoring Heart for Medicine and Drug Habit imagine that quantity may attain 300 metric tons (330 tons) in 2022.
