By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.
Authorities brought down a “super cartel” which controlled around one third of the cocaine trade in Europe, Europol reported today. A total of 49 suspects have been arrested during the course of this investigation and in coordinated raids across Europe and the United Arab Emirates, targeting both the cartel’s command-and-control center and the logistical drug trafficking infrastructure in Europe.
These arrests are the culmination of parallel investigations run in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates with the support of Europol and DEA into the activities of this prolific criminal network involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.
The scale of cocaine importation into Europe under the suspects’ control and command was massive and over 30 tons of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations. The main targets, who used encrypted communications to organize the shipments, were eventually identified by authorities after the Sky ECC platform was taken down.
Among them is 40-year-old Edin Gacanin (above), a Bosnian from the Netherlands, who is seen as a close associate of imprisoned drug lords Ridouan Taghi and Raffaele Imperiale and most wanted narco boss Daniel Kinahan. Authorities view him as one of the top leaders of the cartel.
No safe haven for drug lords
This coordinated clampdown sends a strong message to criminals seeking sanctuary in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from law enforcement. Earlier in September, Europol and the Ministry of Interior of the United Arab Emirates took an important step in enhancing their cooperation. A Liaison Officer Agreement was signed between the two, allowing United Arab Emirates law enforcement liaison officers to be deployed to Europol’s headquarters in the Netherlands.
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