A “Super Cartel” of the drug that controlled a third of the European cocaine market falls

by time news

They seized 30 tons. There were 49 detainees in Europe and Dubai in what was dubbed “Operation Faukas”.

The European cocaine market, the largest in the world by consumption, is going to turn around. Europol, the European agency in charge of coordinating the police forces of the 27 EU member states, announced early on Monday that had dismantled a “super-cartel” of the drug responsible for a third of the cocaine that enters the European market.

There were 49 detainees in Europe and Dubai in which it was baptized as ‘Operation Faukas’, some of them the alleged bosses of the organization, according to the Europol statement.

The detainees were in Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands and the agents seized 30 tons of cocaine. The cartel handled cocaine that was produced in Latin America and that reached Europe mainly through the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).

Reports from the European Agency for Drugs and Drug Addiction have been warning for years that these two ports have long been the main gateway of Latin American cocaine in Europe, a rare honor traditionally held by Spanish ports.



The detainees were in Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands and the agents seized 30 tons of cocaine. AFP photo

The “barons”

Even so, the network still used the Spanish ports of Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona as alternative entry routes to the European market.

The Europol statement states that “several drug barons, considered to be high interest (police) targets, had allied to form what was known as a super-cartel that controlled approximately a third of the cocaine in Europe.”

The statement goes on to explain that “the extent of cocaine importation into Europe under the control and command of the suspects was massive. More than 30 tons of drugs (cocaine) were seized by law enforcement during investigations.”

The six arrested in Dubai were allegedly senior cartel officials two related to Spain, two to France and two to the Netherlands. The rest were arrested in Europe (13 in Spain, 6 in France, 10 in Belgium and 14 in the Netherlands in 2021, but within this same operation).

The operational part of the dismantling of this cartel, the arrests, was carried out between November 8 and 19, although Europol did not announce it until Monday.

“Fat fish”

The Dutch Prosecutor’s Office already said this Monday that it will ask the United Arab Emirates for the extradition of two people detained in Dubai. One, of Dutch and Moroccan nationality, is allegedly one of the most important figures in drug trafficking in Europe, “a big fish”

The port of Manzanillo in Panama.  Photo Reuters


The port of Manzanillo in Panama. Photo Reuters

Most of the cocaine handled by this network arrived in Europe in containers aboard merchant ships. from the port of Manzanillo (Panama) after several movements in Latin America. The head of the network, a British man, would have been one of those arrested in Dubai. The Panamanian who controlled the network in his country also supposedly lived in Dubai.

The cartel maintained two structures in the countries where it was based. The operation, which was in charge of receiving the containers that arrived from Panama and distributing the drug throughout Europe. And the administration, which was basically responsible for laundering the money they got from that drug.

The fall of this cartel is due to the great blow that the European police dealt to organized crime in general when they knocked down ‘Sky ECC’ at the beginning of 2021, an encrypted telecommunications network used by hundreds of criminal groups across the globe.

With an application and special phones that the Canadian company Sky Global would come with, communications could be maintained to which even the best means of the best secret services did not have access.

Until that app was knocked down and the police forces had access to the data and conversations of thousands of people connected with criminal groups of all kinds, in Europe and in the rest of the world. These data have been sifted ever since and have led to dozens of operations. This Monday is one of the most important.

PB

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