https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article277788378.html

More than $12 million of drugs seized around Central Valley in week span of busts

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/guelph...ng-with-semi-automatic-handgun-1.6504832

Guelph police seize over $800K in drugs along with semi-automatic handgun

https://ticotimes.net/2023/08/04/colombian-led-drug-cartel-dismantled-in-costa-rica

Colombian-led Drug Cartel Dismantled in Costa Rica

https://www.currentargus.com/story/...y-touted-by-law-enforcement/70520281007/


'Relentless pursuit' touted as law enforcement announces arrests in Eddy County drug busts

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...n-jailed-23-years-cocaine-haul-plot.html

We spent £45,000-a-year sending our boy to public school... but he became a £120M 'drug lord': Ex-Deputy Crime Commissioner's agony as her son is jailed for 23 years over cocaine haul plot

Parts of Colombia are now awash with cocaine
Prices are plummeting, partly because of massive overproduction

https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2023/08/04/parts-of-colombia-are-now-awash-with-cocaine

'Most cocaine in Rotterdam comes from Ecuador'
August 5, 2023

Most cocaine imported into Rotterdam comes from Ecuador. That is what the head of the Seaport Police in the Rijnmond told the NRC . From 2018 to 2022, more than 60,000 kilos of cocaine from Ecuador, divided into more than 150 consignments, were seized in the port of Rotterdam.

Colombia at four
Ecuador has been by far the most important country for cocaine smuggling to the Netherlands in the past five years. Brazil is in second place with about 43,000 kilos, followed by Costa Rica with more than 30,000 kilos of cocaine. Colombia occupies a distant fourth place with about 13,000 kilos of cocaine.

HARC
The NRC made an analysis of data on seizures by the so-called HARC team. This specialized Hit and Run Cargo team is a partnership of the Public Prosecution Service (OM), Seaport Police, FIOD and Customs and handles all drug finds in the port of Rotterdam.

After an appeal to the Open Government Act (Woo) by NRC, the Public Prosecution Service refused to disclose drug smuggling data. After a ruling by the Rotterdam District Court, the Public Prosecution Service finally gave in to the request.

Guayaquil
The port city of Guayaquil in Ecuador has been the largest cocaine export port to the port of Rotterdam for three years in a row.

Cocaine is hardly made in Ecuador, but is imported from the south of Colombia and Peru. The security of the container terminals in Guayaquil is very poor. For example, fencing is missing in most places.

Ecuador is currently suffering from increasing corruption and violence. The Netherlands is working on a treaty with Ecuador that will enable far-reaching cooperation between customs in both countries.

https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/north-bay-part-of-8-million-drug-and-weapons-bust-7384471

North Bay part of $8 million drug and weapons bust

https://www.toronto.com/news/crime/...9f421a5-a50d-597a-b273-6fc1777f62d5.html

'Disturbing trend': Familiar names in $8 million southern Ontario guns, fentanyl bust
Crimes can be linked back to 3 street gangs, 2 of which operate in the GTA: OPP

Hamilton, 10 August 2023

Project Odeon Dismantles Significant Illegal Opioid Producers

https://hamiltonpolice.on.ca/news/project-odeon-dismantles-significant-illegal-opioid-producers/

THURSDAY, 10 AUGUST 2023 - 16:15

€600 million cocaine shipment found at Rotterdam port; largest drug bust ever in NL



Customs officials in the port of Rotterdam made the largest drug bust ever in the Netherlands on Thursday. A total of 8,064 packages, each containing 1 kilo of cocaine, were retrieved from 12 banana pallets, the Public Prosecution Service announced on Thursday. The street value was estimated at 600 million euros

The container originated from Ecuador and arrived in Rotterdam via Panama. The drugs were discovered during a check with drug-sniffing dogs. The drugs have since been destroyed. The case is currently being investigated by the HARC team, a collaboration between the FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service), Customs, the Seaport Police, and the Public Prosecution Service.

Peter van Buijtenen, the customs director in the port of Rotterdam, praised the professionalism of the customs workers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Once again, we've managed, along with our HARC partners, to deal a significant blow to the drug criminals in the port."

Outgoing State Secretary of Financy Aukje de Vries praised the customs and their partners, stating, "Thanks to their professionalism, they have seized over 8,000 kilos of cocaine, the largest drug bust so far this year!" Outgoing Justice Minister Dilan Ye?ilgöz also expressed her satisfaction, saying, "We are intensifying our efforts against drug criminals in many different areas. And this is one of the results. Hugely proud of the close collaboration among our services," Ye?ilgöz added.



This cocaine seizure shatters the previous record set in 2005 when 4,600 kilos of the drug were found in the port of Rotterdam. At that time, the cocaine was hidden within two large reels of steel cables. The largest cocaine bust of this year, prior to this, took place at the end of June. Customs found more than 3,500 blocks of cocaine hidden among bananas, with the container also originating from Ecuador.

In the first half of this year, a total of 29,702 kilos of cocaine were seized during drug seizures in the Netherlands. Data from Dutch customs indicates that over half of the intercepted shipments weighed less than 100 kilos each. This suggests that criminals are spreading their risk, as Customs explained last month while discussing the mid-year figures.

Reporting by ANP and NL Times

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-...ismantle-2-fentanyl-super-labs-1.6514136

Toronto doctor among 12 arrested after police dismantle 2 fentanyl 'super labs'

https://www.therecord.com/news/wate...f7301d-e78c-5525-b79d-f6bca273a5d3.html?

Two Waterloo Region women among 23 charged in $8-million gun, drug busts

https://globalnews.ca/news/9885389/7-people-charged-project-carlos-drug-trafficking-investigation/

7 people charged in Project Carlos drug trafficking investigation

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/honey...uckland-raid/ILIQ4SYFBRA7ZJADBBIYVWX3XU/

Honey Bear House Beer: Meth totalling three quarters of a tonne seized in South Auckland raid

Half a ton of cocaine caught in Vlissingen
August 15, 2023

Dutch Customs said on Tuesday they found 542 kilos of cocaine in the port of Vlissingen during a regular inspection.

The police and Royal Netherlands Marechaussee came to the scene to protect the drugs. Customs estimates the value of the cocaine at 16 million euros.

No one has been arrested. The company where the checks were done was probably not involved in the case.

The ports of Antwerpen, Rotterdam, Vlissingen the area is hugh. The World's biggest entry of drugs.

NOS News
•
Today, 4:38 pm
Arrested Rotterdammer had drug lab in funeral home

A funeral director from Rotterdam has been arrested for drug trafficking. Police officers tracked down the man when they saw a hearse lying suspiciously low on the road. A drug lab was discovered in his funeral home in Hoogvliet.

The 38-year-old man was picked off the A77 near the border with Germany last May, writes Omroep Brabant. He turned out to be driving around with 675 kilos of raw materials for the production of drugs. That has only just become known.

The man was not alone in the car, a 50-year-old co-driver was also arrested. He is now free again. The funeral director will remain in custody for the time being, the judge ruled today.

https://www.thespec.com/news/crime/...7dfdd91-5ec2-5be8-bfbf-38878f37151b.html

Brantford police seize nearly $100 million in illegal cannabis, arrest 18 after large-scale bust
Raid of the industrial warehouse on Mohawk Street turned up more than 83,400 cannabis plants, 2,330 kilograms of dried marijuana

https://www.porttechnology.org/news...ds-of-cocaine-seized-in-the-netherlands/

Largest drug bust sees 18,000 pounds of cocaine seized in the Netherlands

Dutch Customs found 469 kilos of cocaine in the port of Vlissingen during a regular check on Friday. The total street value of the drugs is more than 35 million euros. It is the second cocaine find in the Vlissingen harbor this week.

During a regular check on Tuesday , 542 kilos of coke was also found in the port of Vlissingen. 16 kilograms of hashish were also found on the same day.

The batches have since been removed and destroyed.

https://balkaninsight.com/2023/08/2...ted-as-700kg-of-cocaine-seized-in-spain/

‘Balkan Cartel’ Members Busted as 700kg of Cocaine Seized in Spain

https://nltimes.nl/2023/08/24/dutch-naval-crew-seizes-eu60-million-drugs-caribbean-busts

Dutch naval crew seizes €60 million in drugs in Caribbean busts

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-Albanian-organised-crime-syndicate.html

More than a tonne of cannabis is seized in Melbourne: Drugs alleged to be linked to Albanian organised crime syndicate

https://winnipegsun.com/news/crime/...ommon-as-police-display-latest-5-4m-haul

‘NEVER ENDING’: Massive drug busts becoming more common as police display latest $5.4M haul

Spain seizes record 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador
Issued on: 25/08/2023 - 16:00
Modified: 25/08/2023 - 15:58

Many of the packages were branded with swastikas and the word "Hitler", similar to a consignment of cocaine that was intercepted in Peru en route to Belgium in May this year.
Many of the packages were branded with swastikas and the word "Hitler", similar to a consignment of cocaine that was intercepted in Peru en route to Belgium in May this year. © JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Madrid (AFP) – Spanish police and customs on Friday announced the seizure of nearly 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador, in what they described as the country's biggest-ever haul of the drug.

The seizure, which took place on Wednesday in the southern port of Algeciras, is "the biggest concealed cargo of cocaine in Spain to date," they said in a joint statement.

The narcotic was stashed in banana crates inside a refrigerated container, they added.

The operation is "an unprecedented blow for one of the biggest criminal organisations at world level in cocaine distribution," they said, without identifying the group.


The intended recipients were Europe's major criminal networks in Europe, they added.

The logos of more than 30 European criminal groups who had been destined to take delivery of the cargo were found inside.

Many of the packages were branded with swastikas and the word "Hitler", similar to a consignment of cocaine that was intercepted in Peru en route to Belgium in May this year.

The drugs had come from Guayaquil, the Ecuadoran port city known as a springboard for South American drugs heading to the United States and Europe.

The organisation which undertook the transport was able to send 40 containers a month to Europe thanks to a vast commercial network and also used the northwestern port of Vigo, the investigators said.

The authorities said the organisations operated through an international banana trading company based in Ecuador's port of Machala.

"From there they sent the merchandise in maritime containers to different companies in our country controlled by members of the criminal network itself," the statement said,

In the last few years, Ecuador has become a key player in the regional cocaine trade as drug trafficking from Colombia and Peru expands into the Andean country, taking advantage of lax security in ports on its Pacific coast.

The rug trade has spurred a wave of violence. Ecuador's murder rate since 2018 has quadrupled, kidnappings are rife, and a string of clashes between rival drug gangs has claimed at least 430 lives in Ecuadoran prisons since 2021.

Spain’s proximity to North Africa, a key source of hashish, and its close ties with former colonies in Latin America, the world’s main cocaine-producing region, have made it a portal for drug-smuggling into Europe.

Very interesting waiting for more info we want names !

Wow ...............The dollar value of this shipment must be at least 3 billion dollar ?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...p-threw-COOLER-death-ruled-homicide.html

Eric Duprey's death is ruled a homicide after undercover cop threw a COOLER at him as he tried to flee a drug bust in New York City

probably 1 billion at most