On August 24th, during a joint operation involving law enforcement agencies from Brazil and seven European countries, the activities of a drug cartel suspected of smuggling cocaine from South America to the European Union were disrupted. During the operation on August 24th, law enforcement officers conducted raids at 15 locations, arrested six individuals, and seized 2.7 tons of cocaine on board a ship. Additionally, two luxury vehicles, high-end watches, and over 550,000 euros in cash were confiscated. During the investigation, bank accounts were frozen, and properties belonging to the suspects were placed under arrest.

According to the information provided by the EU's law enforcement agency, Europol, the investigation in this case began in January 2022 in Serbia.

Under the leadership of Serbia, the operation involved law enforcement agencies from Brazil, Croatia, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Slovenia, as well as the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Narcotics.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the group was led by a Serbian citizen. He organised the drug smuggling along with "coordinators," using encrypted communication channels. The primary task for law enforcement was to locate the ship that had repeatedly travelled to West Africa for smuggling operations. The captains of the ship were identified as citizens of Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

It's worth noting that members of the so-called "Balkan cartel" were previously arrested in Spain, and 700 kg of cocaine were seized . Last week, the Spanish police also announced the seizure of a "record-breaking" shipment of cocaine, totaling 9.5 tons, hidden among boxes of bananas.