German investigators announced on Monday they had seized 2.6 billion euros ($2.78 billion) of cocaine from several container ships and arrested seven people in an operation they called the largest in the country’s history, German media reported.
Prosecutors in the western city of Düsseldorf said they seized 35.5 metric tonnes (39 tonnes US) of cocaine last year on a tip-off from Colombian authorities. They added that they found 25 tonnes of cocaine in the port of the northern city of Hamburg, another eight tonnes in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and almost three tonnes in Colombia. The drugs were hidden among fruit and vegetables. No drug seizures have been previously reported.
Working with Europol, German authorities identified eight main suspects: two Germans, two Turks, as well as citizens of Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Morocco and Ukraine. The suspects, aged between 30 and 54, were arrested. Their identities are being withheld in accordance with German privacy rules.
Police confiscated several mobile phones and laptops, as well as gold bars, 23,300 euros in cash and a Porsche car worth about 250,000 euros. Investigators said the businessman had set up 100 mailbox companies to make the shipments appear legitimate. Ten sea containers containing large shipments of cocaine from Latin America were delivered to Europe between April and September 2023 through front companies set up for the purpose, prosecutors said in a statement.
Tino Ingelmann, head of customs investigations in Düsseldorf, said the amount of cocaine seized in Germany was increasing every year. A written statement by prosecutors said:
Specifically, the suspects are accused of organising 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 allegedly residing in Turkey via front companies set up for this purpose.
Europe’s three largest ports – Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg – are often used by drug cartels to smuggle drugs. Last year, customs investigators seized a record amount of cocaine – almost 180 tonnes – at the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
