Germany seizes 35.5 tons of cocaine in “Europe’s largest Class A drug bust” | world Information

German police have seized £2.19bn value of cocaine from Hamburg, Rotterdam and Colombia, with seven folks from South America and Europe arrested in latest weeks over alleged drug trafficking.

German investigators have seized 35.5 tons of cocaine in what authorities say is the most important seizure of Class A medication Europe has ever seen.

Prosecutors within the western metropolis of Dusseldorf mentioned they confiscated the cocaine, whose worth was estimated at 2.6 billion euros (2.19 billion kilos sterling), final 12 months after receiving a tip-off from Colombian authorities.

A complete of 25 tons of cocaine have been discovered within the port of the northern metropolis of Hamburg as a part of Operation Plexus, one other eight within the Dutch port of Rotterdam and nearly three in Colombia. the Medicine Prosecutors mentioned it was hidden amongst greens and fruits.

Seven folks between the ages of 30 and 54 have been arrested in latest weeks, together with… GermanAnd Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Moroccan, Turkish and Ukrainian residents.

Their identities haven’t been revealed, in step with German privateness legislation.

Learn extra:
“We noticed folks utilizing cocaine in public” – UK police monitoring Euro 2024

They’re accused of importing giant portions of cocaine from Latin America to Europe between April and September 2023. The defendants are believed to have had unknown accomplices who’re allegedly residing in Turkey.

Dr. Benjamin Limbach, Minister of Justice of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, praised the authorities for “staging a coup right here” and praised the teamwork that led to “the most important cocaine discovery on European soil actually going up in flames.”

He added: “This can be a blow to worldwide organized crime. It’s a exact punch within the jaw that may harm the drug lords.”

Prosecutor Julius Sterzl mentioned the suspects transported the cocaine in containers and “hid it amongst crates of fruit and different authorized items.”

He mentioned property have been additionally seized, together with 5 gold bars value round €23,000 (£19,430), a Porsche 911 Turbo value round €250,000 (£211,221) and quite a few luxurious gadgets.