German investigators announced that they seized cocaine worth 2.6 billion euros on several container ships and arrested seven individuals.
Prosecutors in Dusseldorf stated that 35.5 tons of cocaine were seized last year following a tip-off from Colombian authorities.
They added that 25 tons of cocaine were found in the port of Hamburg, eight tons in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, and nearly three tons in Colombia. The drugs were hidden among vegetables and fruits.
This is the largest drug seizure ever conducted by German authorities.
The suspects, aged between 30 and 54, were arrested over the past few weeks.
Among the arrested are German, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Moroccan, Turkish, and Ukrainian nationals, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
Their identities have not been disclosed in accordance with German privacy regulations.
“Specifically, the suspects are accused of, between April and September 2023, organizing the transport of ten maritime containers with large quantities of cocaine from Latin America to Europe, using fake companies established for this purpose, with other currently unknown accomplices allegedly residing in Turkey,” the prosecutor’s statement said.
The Minister of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia, Benjamin Limbach, praised the significant cocaine seizure.
“This is a blow to international organized crime. It is a precise punch to the jaw that hurts the drug lords,” Limbach said at a press conference.
