The Judiciary Police (PJ) and authorities from other countries have dismantled an international network sending large amounts of cocaine to Europe as part of an operation that has lasted since 2022.
In a statement, the PJ says that in the past year and a half, six people of different nationalities have been arrested and 2,700 kilograms of cocaine, a large amount of money, real estate, vehicles and other items have been seized.
The operation called Opatija, in which the PJ participated together with the authorities of Brazil, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Slovenia, the United States and Serbia, began in January 2022.
The criminal structure operated in several countries and was dismantled with the support of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center – Narcotics (MAOC-N) and the coordination of Europol.
According to a note from Interpol, 15 house searches were carried out on August 24, six arrests were made and 2.7 tons of cocaine, luxury vehicles, luxury watches and more than €550,000 in cash were seized.
A large number of bank accounts and properties were blocked during the financial investigation.
In the note, Interpol said investigators identified a Serbian citizen as one of the main organizers of the criminal network.
In 2022, Serbian authorities “launched an investigation into this drug cartel, which is believed to be involved in the large-scale trafficking of cocaine from South America to the EU, namely from Brazil,” the PJ says in the note.
The operation involved other countries on the European continent, including Portugal, participating in surveillance actions and gathering relevant information for the outcome of the operation.
(News corrected at noon, after correction by the PJ)
Source: DN
