30 arrested in European wide operation against drug trafficking network by ethnic Albanians OC

The Hague - The Netherlands.

Yesterday 30 arrests were made in a European-wide operation coordinated by Eurojust at judicial level and Europol at police level. Operation Andromeda was directed against a criminal network operating in several European countries, involved in the trafficking of cocaine, hashish, ecstasy and heroin.

The suspects allegedly created and managed a transnational criminal organisation based mainly in Italy but with operational cells also in Antwerp, Belgium and Oslo, Norway. They used couriers and cars specifically designed for transporting drugs.

The cocaine route went from Peru to the Netherlands and then on to Belgium; from Belgium the drugs were transported mainly to the United Kingdom, Italy and other European countries.

The investigation initiated as an Italian investigation carried out by the Guardia di Finanza of Pisa under the direction of the Anti-Mafia District Directorate (DDA) of Florence, and concerned an organised-crime group of ethnic Albanian suspects.

The judicial investigations were coordinated by Eurojust with Europol providing key support from a very early stage of the investigations. Eurojust held several meetings involving Europol and the linked European authorities to enhance the investigative measures and to define a common strategy for tackling the network.

Europol analysts identified network contacts in 42 countries, and systematically uncovered links across the entire criminal network. Based on this analysis and national investigations, the national law enforcement authorities were already able to seize 49 kgs of cocaine, 10 kgs of heroin and 101 kgs of hashish, during previous phases in the investigation.

During the operation which culminated with the arrests yesterday, Europol deployed a mobile office to Pisa and established a Joint Operation Centre together with Eurojust to coordinate the action of the various law enforcement agencies