The operation involved the participation of police forces from a dozen countries over three years, representing a "major blow" against this "criminal network involved in large-scale drug trafficking", says the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation ( Europol) in a statement.
Furthermore, the operation "put an end" to the activities of this "cartel", whose leaders, originally from the Balkans, had their base in Turkey and Dubai.
According to Europol, the final phase of this operation began with the discovery, in August 2023, by the Spanish Civil Guard, of 700 kilos of cocaine transported on a boat off the Canary Islands, crewed by Croatian and Italian citizens.
By analyzing communications and exchanging information with other police forces, Europol investigators were able to establish a link with previous seizures, tracing the cocaine to its ringleaders, members of a Balkan criminal network.
It was a "powerful structure", with "the capacity to transport tons of cocaine around the world", explained Óscar Esteban Remacha, head of the drug trafficking unit of the Spanish Guardia Civil, at a press conference.
According to Europol, 40 people were arrested in this operation, including two Croatians who were the leaders of the drug trafficking network and who were arrested in Istanbul at the end of 2023.
On Wednesday, four other members of the network were arrested in Spain.
Among these four people is a 40-year-old man, detained near Marbella, a seaside resort very popular with drug traffickers.
According to a journalist from the France-Presse (AFP) news agency who witnessed the operation, the man was detained in his home by a dozen heavily armed Guardia Civil elements.
Investigators explained that this vast network sent the drug from South America by boat to "logistics centers in West Africa and the Canary Islands" and then to distribution centers "in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy and Spain."
According to Europol, eight tonnes of cocaine were recovered by the police during various operations carried out over the last three years against this drug trafficking network. Numerous assets were also seized, with a total value of several tens of millions of euros.
"This is one of the largest operations carried out to date against Balkan drug cartels," said Tomislav Stambuk, a Croatian police officer responsible for the fight against drugs, at the press conference.
This cartel was made up of "numerous cells" that were characterized by committing acts of "great violence", highlighted the same police officer.
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