15/02 45 people arrested in the crackdown on Albanian-speaking criminals and cocaine trafficking. An international operation involving judicial and law enforcement authorities in eight countries has resulted in the takedown of one of Europe’s most active Albanian-speaking cocaine trafficking networks Europe. On this occasion, Eurojust and Europol supported a series of actions carried out in Belgium and Spain, during which over 80 places were searched and 45 suspects arrested.
16/02 Ghanaian drug trafficking network dismantled. Four members of a Ghanaian cocaine smuggling group have been jailed for over 28 years following a National Crime Agency investigation. The group attempted to import almost £3 million worth of the class A drug concealed in their luggage on flights from Ghana to the UK.
16/02 Africa: Transnational Organised Crime, Illicit Economic Networks and Violent Extremism in the Sahel. As the US, French and African forces struggle to contain the escalating violence in the Sahelian scrublands, a key dimension of instability remains neglected: the role of transnational organised crime and illicit economic networks in fuelling violent extremism in the region.
16/02 Illicit flows between Jordan and Syria: an existing organised drug trade. According to the Jordanian army, drug trafficking from Syria to Jordan is becoming “organised”, with smugglers stepping up their operations and using sophisticated equipment, including drones.
18/02 International hit against Brazilian Narcos shipping Bolivian cocaine to the EU. An extensive investigation involving the Brazilian Federal Police (Polícia Federal), Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), the US Drugs Enforcement Administration and the Paraguayan SENAD, coordinated by Europol, has led to the dismantling of a major criminal organisation involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking and money laundering.
19/02 Mafia alchemist brings cocaine into Europe disguised as coal. Wiretaps from an investigation into the Calabrian mafia revealed that a Colombian alchemist was turning cocaine into “charcoal” to avoid detection when the product was imported from Colombia.
20/02 Burglars steal Colombian drug lord’s confession. Recordings of the confessions of Colombia’s most-wanted drug lord, Dairo Antonio Usuga, were stolen from the home of the country’s Truth Commission investigator.
