Amsterdam, May 26, (dpa/GNA) – The European Union’s police agency Europol, has dismantled a major drugs and firearms trafficking gang from the Western Balkans, the agency reported in The Hague on Friday.
The coordinated international police operation had uncovered that the gang’s ringleader, was running the gang from inside prison.
Europol said 37 members of a “highly violent cell” had been arrested over the course of the investigation, with 15 of the arrests made in simultaneous raids on Wednesday across Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Germany.
The gang was led by a national from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is currently serving a four-year sentence in Italy.
“The investigators were able to uncover how this individual, continued to orchestrate his gang’s criminal activities from his prison cell,” said Europol in a statement. “From there, he is believed to have regularly given orders and instructions to his subordinates, on matters related to the trafficking of drugs and firearms.”
The investigation resulted in the seizure of 46 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, marijuana and hashish, 18 firearms, 500 grams of TNT with remote detonators and €148,00 ($159,000) in cash.
Uniforms for law enforcement officers and fake identity documents were also recovered.
The investigation was led by the Croatian police, with intelligence gleaned by Europol “after the recent take-down of three encrypted communication tools used by criminals – Encrochat, Sky ECC and ANOM – revealed the prevalence of Balkan criminals in the global criminal landscape,” Europol said.
GNA