Europol said on Monday it had dismantled a “supercartel” responsible for a third of Europe’s cocaine market. In all, 49 people were arrested in different countries – 6 of them in Dubai, identified as possible leaders of the organization.
Dubbed Operation Desert Light (desert light), the international action resulted in the seizure of 30 tons of narcotics, in addition to the arrest of suspects in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland and the United Arab Emirates. Of those detained in Dubai, two had relations with France, two with Holland and the last two with Spain.
In a statement, Europol detailed that “high value targets had come together” to give rise to what it described as a “supercartel”. Last year, the police obtained authorization to track the cell phones of traffickers, allowing the arrests.
In addition to the four European nations, police and judicial authorities from the United States and the United Arab Emirates participated in the investigation. Under the aim of international cooperation, the network worked mainly with cocaine from South America, which arrived in Europe through the ports of Rotterdam, in Holland, and Antwerp, in Belgium.
Spain’s Civil Guard classified the operation as “a historic milestone in the fight against global drug trafficking” and highlighted the unprecedented nature of an action carried out in Dubai.
In early November, the Spanish Guard carried out simultaneous raids on Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona. The operation arrested 15 people and is related to a March 2020 seizure that seized 698 kg of cocaine in a container at the port of Valencia, in the east of the country.
The organization’s leader, a British citizen, fled Spain for Dubai after being the victim of an attempted kidnapping. From there, “he continued directing and coordinating the criminal activities” of the cartel, explained the Civil Guard. The cocaine was imported from Panama and its supplier, a Panamanian also living in Dubai, “kept in contact with the other emirate barons.”
Prosecutors in the Netherlands have indicated that they should ask for the extradition of the two suspects detained in the Emirates. One of them is a 37-year-old man of Dutch and Moroccan nationality – arrested accused of trafficking thousands of kilos of cocaine to the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021. The other is a 40-year-old man of Dutch and Bosnian nationality.
The Dutch suspects would be linked to Ridouan Taghi, arrested in Dubai in 2019 and currently on trial in the Netherlands, a source who requested anonymity told AFP news agency. Taghi is accused of running a cocaine trafficking ring in Amsterdam and is accused, among other crimes, of murder.
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