22.04.24 – Several people arrested in large-scale operation into drug trafficking in Brussels. As part of the fight against the sale of drugs by criminal organisations in Belgium, a large-scale judicial operation was organised, the Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office reported on Monday after the operation had ended. “This Monday, more than 20 searches were carried out, mainly in the Navez neighbourhood in Schaerbeek,” Amaury Verhoustraeten, of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, said. “These searches targeted the alleged organisers of the drug trafficking.”A total of 150 police officers from the Brussels North Zone, the Brussels Capital/Ixelles, Marlow, Brussels South and Brussels West police zones, as well as Vilvoord-Mechelen and Mons-Quevy, were deployed in the operation. This also marked the first time that the five specialised assistance units (UAS) of the Brussels Police zones were deployed together within the same judicial operation.
23.04.24 – Global drug kingpin’s inner circle taken down. In a large-scale raid conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, law enforcement officers swarmed homes and offices of 23 persons suspected to be part of the ‘inner circle’ of a drug kingpin apprehended in November 2022. Europol supported yesterday’s action, which serves as another milestone in the fight against the so-called ‘super cartel’, an alliance of criminal networks that controlled much of Europe’s cocaine trade. As in operation ‘Desert Light’, several partners from around the globe collaborated to deal yet another major blow to this criminal structure. Over 40 locations were searched by officers active on the ground, who were joined by Europol specialists, as well as United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.
25.04.24 – 21 arrested in hit against migrant smuggling across the EU-Russian border. Coordinated activities of law enforcement authorities from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden, supported by Europol, targeted a large criminal network smuggling migrants from Belarus and Russia to the EU via the North Baltic route. During this coordinated action day in the framework of Europol’s Operational Task Force (OTF) Flow II, the efforts of the members of the OTF led to the arrests of High Value Targets and other main suspects in Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Poland as well as checks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
25.04.24 – 9 Georgian nationals arrested for stealing antique books. During an action day supported by Europol and Eurojust and executed on 24 April 2024 in Georgia and Latvia, four Georgians suspected of stealing antique and rare books from libraries across Europe were taken into custody. In total, the criminal group is believed to be responsible for the theft of at least 170 books, causing financial damages amounting to around EUR 2 500 000 and an immeasurable patrimonial loss to society. Some of these stolen historical artefacts were sold via auction houses in St. Petersburg and Moscow, effectively making them irrecoverable. Leading up to the action day, three suspects had been arrested in Estonia, France and Lithuania, with another two suspects under judicial supervision in France.
26.04.24 – 16 arrests as Vietnamese network smuggling migrants across the English Channel busted. A joint operation involving law enforcement authorities from France and the United Kingdom, supported by Europol, led to the dismantling of a Vietnamese criminal network smuggling migrants across the English Channel. The network was also involved in sexual and labour exploitation and money laundering. The criminal network smuggled migrants from Poland and Germany through France to the United Kingdom. The main organiser – the right hand of the leader of the criminal network – organised the smuggling activities, while another their accomplice was in charge of collecting the money and organising migrant convoys. Most of the migrants had illegally entered the EU through the use of fraudulently obtained working visas. Some of the irregular migrants were smuggling methamphetamine to the region of Paris, supplying Asian drug trafficking groups based in the area in return for a reduced price for their journey. Other migrants suffered sexual exploitation or labour exploitation in grocery shops and nail salons.
