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German prosecutors announced the seizure of 2.6 billion euros (£2.2 billion) worth of cocaine from several container ships and the arrest of seven people in what they called the country’s largest cocaine haul.
Prosecutors in the western city of Düsseldorf said Monday they seized 35.5 tons of cocaine last year after a tip from Colombian authorities. They found 25 tons of cocaine at the port in the northern city of Hamburg, another 8 tons in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and almost 3 tons in Colombia. The drug was hidden among vegetables and fruits.
The seized drugs were not previously announced.
Working with Europol in an operation known as OP Plexus, German authorities identified eight main suspects: two Germans, two Turks and others from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Morocco and Ukraine.
The suspects, aged between 30 and 54, were arrested in recent weeks and are believed to be behind the smuggling. Their identities were not released in accordance with German privacy rules.
Police seized several mobile phones and laptops, as well as gold bars, €23,300 in cash and a Porsche car worth around €250,000.
A businessman from the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia set up 100 letterbox companies to make the transports appear legitimate, they said.
“Specifically, the suspects are accused of organizing the transport of 10 sea containers with large quantities of cocaine from Latin America to Europe in the period from April to September 2023 with other as yet unknown accomplices who are said to be residing in Turkey through shell companies created for this purpose,” prosecutors said in a written statement.
Tino Ingelmann, head of customs investigations in Düsseldorf, said the amount of cocaine seized in Germany grew every year.
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State Attorney General Benjamin Limbach praised the huge cocaine seizure at a news conference in the city.
“This is a blow to international organized crime,” Limbach said. “It’s a precision punch to the jaw that hurts the drug lords.”
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