Authorities have dismantled 4 main prison networks liable for fuelling the circulate of medicine into the European Union and Turkey, the EU’s legislation enforcement company Europol mentioned in a press release.
It follows a sequence of “coordinated raids” supported by the company, which led to the arrest of 232 suspects, together with a number of “high-value targets”.
Europol mentioned the investigation, codenamed Operation Bulut, occurred throughout a number of jurisdictions and concerned authorities in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.
The legislation enforcement company mentioned that the teams had been arrested in reference to the seizure of no less than 21 tonnes of medicine in Europe and Turkey, together with 3.3 million MDMA tablets.
Europol mentioned the teams had used each conventional smuggling routes and complicated logistics.
Investigators additionally reportedly uncovered the teams’ involvement in cash laundering, violent crime and a wider community of organised prison exercise.
Europol mentioned that the usage of “encrypted communication platforms” resembling Sky ECC and ANOM had been a vital software within the operation.
Over the previous two years, Europol has performed a key position in coordinating efforts throughout Europe to help investigations into these prison networks, the company mentioned.
By internet hosting high-level coordination conferences, Europol introduced collectively all concerned nations to develop a joint technique, whereas intelligence shared by way of its channels helped map the networks’ construction and determine hyperlinks to different circumstances, it added.
