Cocaine found among oxen - shipment of Balkan drug cartel crashed in Brazil

After sending cocaine in packages of bananas and other southern fruits, the Balkan drug cartel at the end of last week tried to smuggle drugs on a vessel that was transporting livestock, "Vijesti" has learned.

According to the same information, their recruits from South America hid a small amount of cocaine on that vessel in the port of Vila do Conde, in the Brazilian state of Para, which is located on the banks of the Amazon River.

"A ship carrying live oxen arrived from Europe at a port in the north of Brazil on Wednesday and was awaiting boarding and return to Europe. A day later, the inspection of the ship began, and in the action carried out on September 13, the Federal Police of Brazil seized 39 kilograms of cocaine. The action was carried out in cooperation with the Brazilian Navy and the Federal Revenue Administration. So far, there have been no arrests, but a police investigation has been opened in order to determine the origin and destination of the drugs and identify those responsible, as well as to find out whether the amount that was seized was only part of a larger load that the smugglers were supposed to hide on the ship," he said. interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the foreign security service.

He explained that drug smugglers from the Balkans have been using ships used to transport cattle for the past two years.

"At the beginning of 2023, the National Police and customs officers made a significant seizure on such a ship - more than four tons of cocaine were seized in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In July of last year, another significant seizure of drugs was made in Spain, also on a ship transporting livestock. When it comes to the latest seizure, it is important to explain that the port of Vila do Conde is very close to the mouth of the Amazon and the country's border with places like Guyana or Suriname, key loading points for large cocaine shipments going to Europe. That is why we suspect that the ship is contaminated in that port," said the "Vijesti" interlocutor.

He explained that the Balkan drug cartel has its bases in South America and recruits in them who are in charge of loading cocaine onto ships.

"We have identified most of them and we are working on locating them and arresting them," said the newspaper's interlocutor.

"Vijesti" recently announced that the Balkan Cartel suffered heavy blows in South America in mid-August and mid-July, in actions in which tons of cocaine were seized.

In mid-July, after a four-year investigation, the Central Narcotics Squad of the National Police, in cooperation with Europol, the US DEA, the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency and the Naval Narcotics Analysis and Operations Center (MAOC-N), arrested around 50 people who were part of a criminal network in charge of transporting cocaine from Latin America to Europe.

"The Balkan cartel in that criminal business was in charge of recruiting crews and procuring part of the cocaine that they distributed throughout Europe, from their bases on the Costa del Sol," the newspaper's interlocutor said at the time.

Seized submarine with two tons of cocaine

Two tons of cocaine bound for Europe were seized when the Royal Navy of Great Britain, with the help of the United States Coast Guard, intercepted and confiscated a semi-submersible submarine in Caribbean waters. In that significant operation, carried out 190 nautical miles south of the Dominican Republic, American airmen also took part.

Although the operation was carried out at the end of August, the US Coast Guard, which brought the drugs ashore last Monday, only later announced that 11 suspects had been arrested.

The Royal Navy pointed out that this was their first operation in which they seized a semi-submersible submarine.

They explained that their patrol boat Trent was involved in another night pursuit of suspects, and that 90 nautical miles north of the place where they seized the "drug submarine" they arrested two more people and seized 12 packages of drugs.

The US Coast Guard adds that during that operation there were a total of three interceptions of cocaine smugglers on the open sea...