Brian McDonald
German investigators seized 39 tons of cocaine worth more than $2.78 billion hidden among vegetables and fruits on several container ships, authorities announced on Monday. Seven people were arrested in what investigators called the county’s largest cocaine bust.
Prosecutors in the western city of Dusseldorf said they confiscated the drug last year following a tip-off from Colombian authorities. They said around 27.5 tonnes of cocaine were found in the port of the northern city of Hamburg, another 8.8 tonnes in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and almost 3.3 tonnes in Colombia.
The suspects accused of orchestrating the cocaine smuggling – aged between 30 and 54 – were arrested in recent weeks. The seven include German, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Moroccan, Turkish and Ukrainian citizens, prosecutors said in a statement. Their identities have not been disclosed in accordance with German privacy rules.
Roland Weihrauch Alliance/picture via Getty Images
A businessman from the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia created 100 letterbox companies to make shipping look cool, they said.
“Specifically, the suspects are accused of organizing the transport of 10 maritime containers with large quantities of cocaine from Latin America to Europe in the period from April to September 2023 with other still unknown accomplices allegedly residing in Turkey through shell companies created for this purpose,” said a written statement from prosecutors.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach praised the huge cocaine seizure at a press conference in Dusseldorf. He said it was the “largest discovery of cocaine on European soil”, according to Sky News.
“This is a blow to international organized crime,” Limbach said. “It’s a precise punch in the jaw that hurts drug dealers.”
On Friday, Nancy Faeser of the German Interior welcomed the seizure, although the exact details were not revealed until Monday’s press conference.
“The flood of cocaine into Europe is destroying people – and generating billions of dollars in profits for the cartels,” Faeser said in a statement, according to the Reuters.
Last week, local mediaciting the Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it said the cocaine seizure was part of a criminal investigation dubbed “OP Plexus”.
Arrests and seizures also occur after Europol announced that it arrested around 40 people in a years-long operation to uncover a large drug smuggling network. They seized eight tons of cocaine.
The cartel, whose leaders were based in Turkey and Dubai, suffered a major blow after a final series of arrests on Wednesday, the Hague-based police coordination said. agency said.
Europol released images and a almost 10 minute video Thursday, showing K-9 dogs and officers finding bags of suspected drugs, as well as several suspects being detained. The video also shows at least one boat being intercepted at sea with police officers unloading bags of suspected narcotics.
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