“The heroin was hidden in a container shipment of soap originating from Iran”
According to the statement, a single dose of a two-digit milligram consumption unit of heroin can be fatal to users. Stock image
A heroin trafficker suspect of running a criminal network stretching from Iran to Western Europe has been snared in a major international law enforcement operation.
The 57-year-old Turkish citizen was arrested in Albania as part of a Europol-led taskforce that involved German authorities with the support of the Netherlands.
The authorities involved joined forces within the framework of an Operational Taskforce (OTF) set up at Europol to gather intelligence and coordinate the operational activities in recent months..
This led to the arrest of the Turkish national in Albania on November 23 while several residential and business properties belonging to the suspect and his girlfriend were searched in Rotterdam.
Considered one of Europol’s high-value targets, the arrested man is suspected of heading a criminal network responsible for the large-scale import of heroin into Western Europe.
“The investigation was able to link the suspect to the seizure of 703 kilos of heroin in the port of Hamburg in Germany on August 30, 2022,” Europol said in a statement.
“The heroin was hidden in a container shipment of soap originating from Iran.”
The suspect is now awaiting his extradition to Germany.
According to the statement, a single dose of a two-digit milligram consumption unit of heroin can be fatal to users.
“While cocaine is grabbing the headlines, heroin trafficking is still an attractive venture for criminals,” the statement adds.
“The OTF aims to identify and disrupt the ‘control and command’ of heroin supply and targets criminal networks, in the EU and beyond, that are behind multi-tonne shipments of heroin to the EU.
Europol said it had supported this investigation since April 2022 “with continuous intelligence development and the coordination of the operational strategy between all the countries involved”.
The Operational Taskforce launched at Europol in August 2023 is the result of a “heightened understanding of heroin trafficking in Europe”, buy law enforcement authorities.
Authorities involved in the investigation included the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) and Prosecutors Office in Germany; the Landelijke Eenheid/Eenheid Rotterdam and Dutch Public Prosecutors Service in the Nethelnds: Albanian Border Police and the European Serious Organised Crime Centre at Europol.
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Publish date : 2024-11-28 08:56:00
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