Police have demolished a huge drug ‘super-cartel’ that was in charge of a third of the cocaine trade in Europe, detaining 49 people across several nations, including six key suspects in Dubai, informed Europol on Monday.
According to a statement from the EU’s police agency, the massive multinational operation netted 30 tonnes of the drug in addition to arrests in France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Europol further informed that, the drug lords it had identified as high-value targets had banded together to establish a ‘super cartel’ that was in charge of about one-third of the cocaine traffic in Europe.
Over 30 tonnes of cocaine were recovered by law enforcement during the course of the investigations, demonstrating the scope of the suspects’ control and command over the trafficking of cocaine into Europe.
According to Europol, Dubai has detained four ‘high-value’ suspects, including two with ties to the Netherlands, two to Spain, and two to France.
Under the condition of anonymity, a Europol source told AFP that ‘one of the Dutch suspects is an incredibly big fish.’
According to the report, 14 people were detained in the Netherlands in 2021 as part of the same operation, while 13 people were detained in Spain, 6 in France, and 10 in Belgium.
Prosecutors in the Netherlands said that they would ask for the accused’ extradition from the United Arab Emirates.
One of the suspects was a 37-year-old man who was detained for allegedly bringing thousands of kilogrammes of cocaine into the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021. He also held dual Dutch and Moroccan citizenship.
The Dutch public prosecution service stated that ‘these are major criminal offences related to international drug trafficking, mostly from South America via the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam.’
According to the report, the other was a 40-year-old dual Dutch-Bosnian national.
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