Spanish police made 13 arrests earlier this month as part of the two-year investigation.
A “supercartel” of drugs.
The European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, said Monday it had dismantled a huge criminal gang that controlled about a third of Europe’s cocaine supply.
During Operation Desert Light, 49 personas were arrested in six European countries, police revealed.
Among those arrested is a British citizen, suspected of leading the cartel.
During the investigation that lasted two years seized more than 30 tons (30,000 kg) of drugs.
“Prolific criminal network”
In Operation Desert Light, authorities from Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) worked together to take down the cartel, Europol said in a statement.
Those arrested include six “high value targets”, some of them being the most wanted criminals by the international police.
Europol said the ringleaders formed a “prolific criminal network involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.”
And he described the drug operation as “massive”.
This investigation is the latest in a series of law enforcement efforts that tapped encrypted phones used by organized crime networks that traffic drugs and launder money.
“Fat fish”
The cocaine imported from South America via the Netherlands it was the main focus of the investigation and most of the arrests were made there in 2021.
The other arrests happened earlier this month, between November 8 and 19, during coordinated raids in the other six countries, Europol said.
A video posted on Europol’s YouTube page shows teams of investigators and sniffer dogs searching houses and luxury cars, though it is unclear if any assets were seized during the arrests.
The British man suspected of heading the “supercartel” had fled to Dubai after managing to elude an earlier arrest in Spain, the country’s Civil Guard said in a statement.
He allegedly continued to lead the cartel from the United Arab Emirates.
An anonymous Europol source told the AFP news agency that another suspect, a “fat fish” Dutchman with suspected links to high-profile crime boss of the same nationality, Ridouan Taghi, was also arrested.
Dutch prosecutors said they would request the extradition of the suspects from the United Arab Emirates who now face charges of drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering.
drug use
Data from the last decade suggest that access to cocaine in Europe is increasing every year.
Crimes related to cocaine use or possession are also on the rise, with an estimated 3.5 million adults using the drug in the past year.
Earlier this month, police in Spain carried out a series of raids that resulted in the discovery of the largest haul of cannabis ever found.
The packaged marijuana found equaled approximately 1.1 million plants.
However, for a leading drug policy expert it is “unlikely that the operation [Desert Light] have a significant impact on the cocaine market in Europe”.
Niamh Eastwood, chief executive of the charity Release, which supports the decriminalization and regulation of illegal drugs, said it’s a “resilient market”.
According to the expert, the 2020 international police operation that brought down “EncroChat”, a mobile network and manufacturer of modified smartphones used by organized crime groups, led to the seizure of 20 tons of drugs in the United Kingdom.
“At the time, this was described as ‘the largest and deepest operation ever carried out in the UK against serious organized crime,'” Eastwood recalled to the BBC.
“However, cocaine and other drugs continued to be readily available throughout the country,” he describes.
