A long-running cross-border investigation has enabled the interception of a large-scale criminal drug trafficking network transporting cocaine from South America to the European Union. The operation covered countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

The cocaine traffickers under investigation used different sea routes and modus operandi. The criminal network is also connected to a seizure of more than half a tonne of cocaine, with a street value of 50 million euros, in the port of Ploče in southern Croatia towards the end of March 2021. The drug was hidden in a modified cargo container floor. This seizure is one more indication that international drug trafficking organisations are increasingly targeting smaller EU ports.
On the action day – 26 November 2024 – police authorities arrested 11 suspects (2 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 in Croatia and 8 in Serbia). One of them is a high-value target. During the house searches, the police seized weapons and a large amount of ammunition, as well as several high-end vehicles, watches and more than one million euros in cash. Four other people investigated for belonging to this network are already imprisoned. International arrest warrants have been issued for three other people.
The criminal network allegedly bribes several customs agents to avoid police and customs controls during the logistical phase of export. An allegedly corrupt customs agent was detained during the operation. The other arrests were members of the criminal network who had different roles in the organisation. Some ran some criminal cells, while others either financed activities or coordinated and organised logistics.
One of the suspects, a high-value target detained in Serbia, was already wanted by an EU member state. He was involved in the theft of one million euros as part of the notorious Pink Panther group. Both the robbery and his escape from prison after his conviction date back to the early 2000s.
This investigation is a continuation of an earlier operation against a criminal network connected to this one. These cross-border operations are the result of the evolution of intelligence after the withdrawal in March 2021 of the Sky ECC encrypted communications platform.
In cooperation with France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and with the support of Europol’s Drugs Unit, Serbia was able to identify key targets on its territory and map their criminal activities worldwide. This criminal organisation is believed to be linked to a large-scale criminal network that imports shipments of several tonnes of cocaine from Colombia through Brazil and Ecuador.
The recent withdrawal of three encrypted communication tools used by criminals (EncroChat, Sky ECC and Anom), revealed the prevalence of Balkan criminals in the global cocaine trade and organised crime-related activities.
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