25.05.23 – 37 arrested as violent Balkan criminal cell is taken down. An international law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol has resulted in the arrest of 37 members of a highly violent criminal cell from the Western Balkans. Led by a national of Bosnia & Herzegovina, this powerful criminal cell was mainly involved in the large-scale trafficking of drugs and firearms across Europe.
25.05.23 – More than 1,200 kilos of cocaine seized hidden in three sea containers from South America. Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with agents from the National Police, the Anti-Narcotics Directorate of the Colombian National Police, the American Homeland Security Investigations and the authorities of Ecuador, have seized more than 1,200 kilos of cocaine hidden in three maritime containers coming from South America. The investigation led to the complete dismantling of an international criminal organisation dedicated to cocaine trafficking and the arrest of its seven members.
25.05.23 – £38.8m worth of heroin recovered from cover load of pomegranate juice. National Crime Agency investigators have foiled a plot to smuggle heroin with a street value of £38.8m into the UK in bottles of pomegranate juice. A consignment of the Class A drug weighing 388 kilos was recovered by NCA and Border Force officers from a shipping container at the port of Southampton.
26.05.23 – 30 arrested in crackdown against large-scale drug trafficking network. The Spanish Guardia Civil has dismantled a criminal network engaged in large-scale drug trafficking from South America to Europe. Europol supported the operation against the criminals, who used an elaborate modus operandi to retrieve smuggled cocaine from shipping containers in the Spanish port of Algeciras. The organisation relied on a dedicated front company to launder the illicit proceeds gained by drug trafficking.
26.05.23 – 17 arrested in Belgium and Germany in takedown of clan-based drug trafficking network. Over 300 officers, including special intervention and K9 teams, carried out a series of simultaneous raids in both countries against the members of this family-structured criminal group, composed mainly of Albanian nationals/dual Albanian nationals. The actions were coordinated from a command centre located in Brussels, Belgium, with Europol officers deployed in the field.
