Paraguay to Dubai: International drug gang broken up
Created: 2022-04-21Updated: 2022-04-21, 4:45 p.m
Policemen dressed in police vests.
© Silas Stein/dpa/symbol picture
Customs investigators discovered a huge amount of cocaine in February 2021 in the port of Hamburg.
Internationally, the police are looking for the masterminds of this deal and other drug deals - and will also find them in Hanover.
A major raid brings further insights.
Hanover - A gang of drug dealers from South and Central America is said to have shipped more than 23 tons of cocaine to the European Union.
Customs investigators discovered 16 tons in February 2021 in the port of Hamburg alone.
The record find is assigned to an international group of perpetrators who, according to investigators, were broken up on Wednesday.
In a large-scale raid, apartments and business premises in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Paraguay were searched.
Around 20 suspects were provisionally arrested - including suspected masterminds.
"The arrests do not affect the "small fish", but the heads of the organization," said Bernd reason, Vice President of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) Lower Saxony on Thursday.
A 39-year-old German man was arrested in Dubai early Thursday morning with the help of the local police.
Born in Hanover, he left for the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2020.
At that time, his longtime friend took over the business in Hanover, it was said.
The 43-year-old was arrested in Spain along with two accomplices in mid-March 2022.
He is also a leader.
"Both people have relevant criminal records," said the chief criminal director of the LKA, Christian Zahel.
Since 2020, the "Joint Investigation Group on Drugs" (GER) of the LKA and the Hanover Customs Investigation Office has been on the trail of international drug smugglers.
In March 2021 there was a first major raid with many arrests.
According to the LKA, 21 suspects in this complex have now been sentenced to a total of 125 years in prison.
This Wednesday, 35 properties were searched in a second major raid in Germany alone, with the focus being on the greater Hanover area.
According to the European police authority Europol, the gang also had a large network of legal companies that they used to smuggle drugs into the EU.
According to the LKA, banana and coffee deliveries were also used to cover up the drug transports.
In the background there was a network of bogus and letterbox companies, it said.
Logistics had been set up with warehouses and transport companies.
The Belgian public prosecutor assigned a total of 35 tons of cocaine to the criminal organization in 2021.
These would have a street value of over 900 million euros.
Shortly after the record find in Hamburg, 7.7 tons of cocaine were found in Antwerp and a little later 10.9 tons.
In Hamburg, the drug was hidden in metal canisters in containers from Paraguay that allegedly contained putty.
By decoding messages in the messenger service Sky ECC, the authorities were on the track of international drug smuggling, it was said in Belgium.
During the searches on Wednesday in Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, the officers seized written documents, digital evidence, small amounts of cannabis and a firearm, according to the Hanover public prosecutor.
In addition, assets worth 1.5 million euros were confiscated - including high-quality watches, a property, two cars and a motorcycle.
more on the subject
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Eleven arrests
Paraguay to Dubai: International drug gang broken up
23 tons of cocaine smuggled?
Arrests after investigation
According to the Dutch police, officials in Schiedam (near Rotterdam) confiscated three million euros in cash.
In Spain, luxury goods and a luxury villa worth five million euros were confiscated.
In Paraguay, six properties, including company and business premises, were searched in the Asuncion region.
According to the LKA, extensive evidence was secured that proved the provision and export of the cocaine by the group.
dpa
