An unprecedented international operation, in which the authorities of 11 countries participated, led to arrest of 44 alleged members of the criminal network European Union law enforcement agencies said that it is considered one of the most dangerous in the European Union. Europoland the European Union Agency for Cooperation in Criminal Justice, eurojust.

“Several criminal organizations have worked together to carry out large-scale multi-criminal activities inside and outside the EU,” European agencies based in The Hague, Netherlands, said in a joint statement.

Basically, we are talking about drug trafficking, money laundering, illicit enrichment, among other things, they specified.

“The scale of drug trafficking attributed to this network is enormous, with activity reported across three continents,” Europol and Eurojust said.

During the searches, a large number of various illegal drugs were seized, such as cocaine, hashish, cannabis and methamphetamine.

During the operation, coordinated by two European agencies and held on Tuesday, November 22, a total of 94 investigations were carried out throughout Europe against both the leaders of these criminal organizations and their accomplices.

This international sweep follows complex investigations carried out by the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office and the Lithuanian Police Forensic Service, together with their partners in the Czech Republic, Latvia, France, Poland, Norway, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and the United States, as part of Eurojust and Europol coordination.

Seven arrests were made in Lithuania, 9 in the Czech Republic, 9 in France, 7 in Slovakia, 5 in Latvia, 2 in Poland, 2 in Norway, 1 in Germany, 1 in Spain, 1 in the USA.

France arrested nine people, including a Russian and a Lithuanian, each 50 years old, who lived on the Cote d’Azur in the south of the country. According to a court and police source, the two men are suspected of making decisions about a very large trafficking of cocaine and cannabis to Russia.

They are covered by a valid European arrest warrant, which will be handed over to the Lithuanian authorities, he added.

The remaining seven arrested, three men and four women, have been released without charge at this stage. According to a court source, they are suspected of money laundering and misappropriation of funds. According to a source familiar with the case, the Russian and Lithuanian’s entourage benefited from their generosity.

In France, luxury goods worth more than 500 thousand euros, as well as real estate, were seized, an informed source said.

Beyond borders and between continents

The network, which is also said to be linked to major drug gangs outside the EU, has operated in Lithuania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Germany and Slovakia.

“Extremely agile, these criminals quickly adapted to new drug trafficking methods to evade law enforcement,” European organizations say.

A lot of drugs were found on ships and trucks, well hidden in compartments.

“The criminal network was structured like a corporation, with various criminal groups and individuals working together across borders to control the entire drug trafficking chain, from the organization of huge drug shipments to distribution in Europe and beyond,” said Europol and Eurojust. Cooperation between countries and European organizations has led to the adoption of a common strategy for the preparation of the final phase of the investigations and “roll up the entire network,” they say in a statement.

AFP