Enlarge image
Blue light (archive)
Photo: Patrick Seeger / picture alliance / dpa
During a raid in the Kleve district and Krefeld, the police arrested three suspected drug traffickers.
This was communicated by the Essen customs investigation team and the Kleve public prosecutor's office.
In addition, over 88 kilograms of heroin, 130 kilograms of hashish and more than 50,000 euros were confiscated.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, customs and police smashed an alleged international drug ring.
The three suspects, aged between 33 and 39, are suspected of having built specially prepared “smuggling hiding places” in construction machinery as a gang.
The machines were then filled with drugs in the "two- to three-digit kilogram" range and transported from mainland Europe to bulk buyers in Great Britain.
After the arrest of two Dutch drug couriers who had already been sentenced to long prison terms, extensive investigations led to the identification of the group.
Investigators confiscated a construction machine prepared by the accused in Ireland in August this year.
The street sales value of the drugs seized on Thursday was reportedly around 7.4 million euros.
During the searches in a total of nine objects, two locked safes, pharmaceuticals and electronic data carriers were also confiscated.
kha / AFP
