27.06.23 – 43 members of Italian organised crime arrested. 43 members of the criminal network ‘Ndrangheta were arrested in the early hours of 27 June in a joint operation supported by Europol and Eurojust. Over 1 000 officers from Italian, German and Austrian law enforcement authorities cracked down on members of the Italian criminal network based in Crotone, a city in the Italian province of Calabria. Among the detainees, who are predominantly of Italian nationality and include German and Austrian nationals, is a High-Value Target believed to be a key player in this particular criminal structure. 16 companies, 25 real-estate properties and 15 vehicles worth over EUR 5 million were seized during the operation. The joint law enforcement operation saw the deployment of special forces, drones, canine units and several helicopters.
27.06.23 – Czech police arrest 14 people suspected of human trafficking. The suspects allegedly organized the transport of at least a thousand illegal migrants since 2021, earning at least 1 million euros. Czech police said on Tuesday that they had broken up an international ring suspected of smuggling migrants from Turkey to Western Europe. A total of 14 suspects, including 13 foreigners of unspecified origin and one Czech citizen, have been arrested in raids across the country in recent days, police said. Suspects allegedly organized the transport of at least 1,000 illegal migrants since 2021, earning them at least €1 million.
29.06.23 – Law enforcement casts net over 256 eel smugglers. A joint operation coordinated by Europol, involving law enforcement authorities across the globe, has dealt yet another major blow to organised crime groups engaged in international glass eel trafficking. This years’ edition of Operation LAKE ran from October 2022 to June 2023 and led to the arrest of 256 persons responsible for the trafficking of 25 tonnes of live glass eels worth around EUR 13 million. 8 tonnes of these baby eels were already on their way out of the EU towards Asia, where they were due to be raised in fish farms and sold worldwide upon reaching adulthood.
30.06.23 – James White: Gangster pleads guilty after being found hiding in Brazil. On Friday, James White pleaded guilty to offences including importing and supplying millions of pounds of controlled drugs, possessing firearms and explosives and money laundering at the High Court in Glasgow. White, 45, will be sentenced at a later date. The plea comes after White fled Scotland in an effort to “evade justice”. In June 2020, he was arrested in Fortaleza, a city on Brazil’s north coast after a joint operation between Police Scotland and the Brazilian Federal Police. He was extradited back to Scotland in August 2022.
30.06.23 – 6.5 tonnes of cocaine found hidden between bananas in Colombia and Spain. Large law enforcement seizures hit Spanish narco boss, EUR 223 million worth of cocaine intercepted during three operations in Spain and Colombia. Europol supported the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) to dismantle a criminal network involved in the multi-tonne trafficking of cocaine from South America to the EU. The investigation, which started in October 2022, involved the Colombian National Police (Policía Nacional de Colombia) and the Latvian State Police (Latvijas Valsts policija). Europol facilitated the exchange of information and provided continuous analytical support. On the action day, Europol deployed officers to Spain to support intelligence developments during the field activities.
