2024-06-18 03:53:55
Seven had been detained, amongst them a Bulgarian
German investigators mentioned at the moment they seized cocaine price 2.6 billion euros from a number of container ships and arrested seven individuals, saying it was the most important quantity of cocaine ever seized within the nation, the Related Press reported.
Prosecutors within the metropolis of Düsseldorf mentioned they seized 35.5 metric tons of cocaine final yr after a tip from Colombian authorities. They added that they discovered 25 tons of cocaine within the port of the town of Hamburg, one other 8 tons within the Dutch port of Rotterdam and virtually 3 tons in Colombia. The medicine had been hidden amongst greens and fruits, BTA reported.
The suspects – aged between 30 and 54 – had been arrested in latest weeks and are believed to be behind the smuggling. Among the many seven detained are German, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Moroccan, Turkish and Ukrainian residents, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned in a press release. They aren’t recognized in accordance with German information safety rules.
Authorities say a businessman from the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia created 100 shell firms to make the shipments seem reliable.
“Particularly, the suspects are accused of organizing the transportation of 10 sea containers with massive portions of cocaine from Latin America to Europe between April and September 2023 along with different as but unknown accomplices who’re mentioned to be residing in Turkey by way of firms created for this goal,” prosecutors mentioned in a written assertion.
At a press convention in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Justice, Benjamin Limbach, praised the profitable operation.
“It is a blow to worldwide organized crime,” Limbach mentioned. “It is a precision strike that hurts the drug lords.”