Police in Belgium detained 30 people during an investigation of a major drug trafficking operation in at least seven countries, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The federal prosecutor office says at least 10 other arrests have been made abroad.
The police carried out 49 searches across Belgium, most of them in and around Brussels and the port city of Antwerp. Prosecutors did not specify what was seized in the operation.
“The liaison officers from Europol, Italy and Spain were able to follow the operation live and share information on simultaneous operations in other countries”, the prosecutor office said, adding that about 60 searches took place in Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia and the Netherlands.
Belgium has become a major hub for drug trafficking to Europe. With thousands of containers arriving daily in Antwerp, the city is one of Europe main ports of Entrance for cocaine.
Prosecutors said an investigation launched two years ago revealed a international Drug traffic network involving suspects who come mainly from Eastern Europe.
Most suspects lived in the district of Brussels, and the organization at drop-off points near the port of Antwerp, where cocaine arrives from South America, prosecutors noted.
Prosecutors alleged that the alleged traffickers worked in coalition with “nationals of southern Europe” who To belong to crime families in Limburg, Netherlands.
To transport drugs to Europe, the organization used cargo planes or private squirts along with shipping containers sent to Antwerp, Rotterdam in Netherlands, Le Havre in France and Hamburg, Germany, according to authorities.
Last yearBelgian police made dozens of arrests during an organized demonstration crime operation of unprecedented scale after investigators hack encrypted communication network popular with the criminals.
According to the Belgian prosecutorsthe cracking of Sky ECC encrypted messaging service was helpful in the drug case, helping to identify people in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay.
The suspects need to present to the examining magistrate in load of the case within 48 hours.
