Geneva,Nov 14. (dpa/GNA) – European law-enforcement agencies have arrested dozens of people, and seized cash and weapons in a series of raids on drug traffickers in Germany, Switzerland and other countries.
The main haul so far was a single consignment of 750 kilograms of cocaine, which was seized at the Port of Antwerp in August, German police said in a statement on Friday.
The “intensive investigations” have been ongoing since 2022 and are focusing on a suspected network presumed active since 2019, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Police said on Thursday.
Searches this year in the southern German border town of Konstanz, resulted in the seizure of some €1.3 million ($1.43 million) in cash and the arrest of Swiss, Romanian, Dutch, Italian, Turkish and German citizens, said the Konstanz police.
The defendants are suspected of having organized the shipment of tons of cocaine from Latin America to Europe, in shipping containers, including the 750-kilogram haul.
Trading companies in Switzerland and the Netherlands were allegedly founded specifically to act as recipients of the drugs, which were hidden inside illegal cargo.
According to Swiss authorities, searches were also conducted in the Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Greece and Poland.
In Switzerland, 41 people were arrested by investigators, who also seized cash worth more than 2.3 million francs ($2.7 million), cryptocurrencies worth 50,000 francs and 15 weapons.
GNA