1 Euro is equal to 1.18 US dollar.

For the second time this week, a large consignment of cocaine was intercepted in the port of Rotterdam. This afternoon customs found 1,543 kilos of cocaine with a street value of 115 million euros, spread over two lots.

The largest shipment of cocaine was hidden in a container of pineapples and was en route from Costa Rica to a company in Germany. In another container, loaded with bananas from Ecuador, customs found the other batch of cocaine. The companies for which the cargo was destined probably have nothing to do with drug smuggling, the Public Prosecution Service believes.

Last night, more than 3000 kilos of cocaine were intercepted, hidden between the banana puree. That was one of the largest catches ever made in the port of Rotterdam. It was also announced today that twelve employees of a Rotterdam container company have been arrested in recent months for allegedly cooperating in coke smuggling.

Tip of the iceberg
In the whole of 2020, more than 40,000 kilos of cocaine were detected in containers in the port of Rotterdam, about 7,000 more than in 2019. According to researchers, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Only a small part of the 7.5 million containers that pass through Rotterdam every year are checked.

The HARC team, a collaboration of Customs, FIOD, Seaport Police and the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam, will investigate all matters further. The intercepted cocaine has been destroyed.

On Thursday night, the police encountered a large drug lab on Hoogbosweg in Nederweert, Limburg. According to the National Dismantling Support Facility (LFO), this would be “the largest and most professional crystal meth production location ever found in the Netherlands”.

Two sheds
The police tracked down the drug lab in the outlying area after information from cracked chat messages. At the location, an arrest team discovered the extensive lab in two connected sheds. A 62-year-old man from Poland was arrested in an associated house. Multiple arrests are not ruled out, police said.

Quantity still unknown
LFO specialists are dismantling the production site. Given the size and size, this will certainly take until Sunday. According to the investigation and LFO, research shows that in terms of quantities of raw materials and end products, it is the largest crystal meth lab ever in the Netherlands. An inventory will be made of exactly which and how many raw materials, end products and resources were present in the drug lab.

Because the drug lab is remote, there was no danger to local residents.

The largest crystal meth labs found in the Netherlands to date were those in Drempt and Arnhem.

U.S. Coast Guard seizes $1.4B in drugs from multiple ships with help from Canadians

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/u-s-c...ships-with-help-from-canadians-1.5537809

Cocaine in Dutch cheeses to Sweden
August 10, 2021

Quantities of cocaine in Dutch cheeses were smuggled to Sweden in 2020. This emerged in a lawsuit in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, in which prison sentences were handed out up to 12 years in prison. The evidence in the case comes in part from EncroChat chats hacked by police. In a previous case , a court in Sweden rejected the use of Encro chats.

The prime suspect is a member of the notorious Ali Khan family in Gothenburg. A total of seven suspects have been convicted in the case. One of the suspects has also been convicted of importing amphetamine oil.

The suspects were caught red-handed with 18.5 kilos of cocaine in August 2020 after the police listened live in the spring of that year with mutual messages from Encro users. This happened through a collaboration between the French and Dutch authorities, who passed on the results of their hack to, among others, the Swedish police.

Another huge amount of cocaine in Rotterdam
September 17, 2021

In the night from Thursday to Friday, Customs intercepted 4,022 kilos in the port of Rotterdam. The drugs were hidden in a container from Suriname that was loaded with wood. The container was destined for a company in Poland.

The HARC team, a partnership of Customs, FIOD, Seaport Police and the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam, is further investigating the case. The drugs have since been destroyed.

The Public Prosecution Service estimates the value of the cocaine at 301 million euros.

On October 6, the Guardia Civil rolled up a cannabis plantation with 135,000 plants at a farm in the Spanish town of Huerta de Valdecarábanos. According to the authorities, it is the largest cannabis farm ever discovered in Europe. Three suspects have been arrested. The Guardia Civil reported this on Monday.

Genetically manipulated
The weed was supposed to be legally grown for 'industrial purposes', but samples taken at the cannabis farm on September 16 showed that these plants were actually genetically manipulated cannabis plants. In this way they tried to assimilate these plants with legal weed.

Three huge cocaine busts this weekend.

4,178 kilos of cocaine from Paraguay intercepted in the port of Rotterdam
On Saturday evening, Customs intercepted a total of 4,178 kilos of cocaine during a check in the port of Rotterdam.

Two large cocaine shipments were intercepted in Panama and Colombia that were en route to the Netherlands. In Panama it is 3,500 kilos of cocaine and in Colombia it is 2,000 kilos.

The batch of coke in Panama was found in containers in a ship en route from San Vicente in Chile to the port of Rotterdam. According to media in Panama, it is one of the largest drug seizures ever in the country. 100 bags containing 3,499 packages of cocaine were found on board the ship.

In Colombia, more than 2,000 kilos of cocaine was intercepted in a container destined for the port of Rotterdam in the port of Cartagena. The more than 2,000 packages of drugs were hidden in bags in a container with refrigerators

A public prosecutor of the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service says it is 'crazy' to have the ambition to win the drug war. That statement is somewhat in contrast to the usually ambitious language of Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus and the prosecutors of the national prosecutor's office who fight internationally operating drug organizations. Public Prosecutor Ernst Pols says in conversation with NU.nl that he has no idea what the effectiveness is of the police action against the international cocaine trade.

63 tons
The number of kilograms of cocaine seized in Rotterdam has risen for the fourth year in a row and will again reach a record this year. In 2018, more than 22,000 kilos were found, this year the counter is now at about 63,000 kilos. The drug organization UNODC (of the United Nations) estimates that now more than half of the cocaine imported to the European continent comes through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, with Spain as a good second import port.

At the same time, it is clear that production in Peru and Colombia has been increasing in recent years. Officer Ernst Pols says he has no idea whether that increase can be directly related to the increase in seizures in Rotterdam. Pols: 'What we don't know, we don't know and there's quite a bit we don't know.'

By comparison, a record 505 tons of cocaine was seized in Colombia in 2020. About 100 tons were packed there this year.

The Netherlands fights organized crime with three other countries
The Netherlands will cooperate more intensively with Belgium, France and Spain to tackle organized crime. In a joint statement, ministers from the four countries say they are deeply concerned about the threat posed by serious and organized crime to society, to citizens' fundamental rights and to the functioning of the rule of law and the economy.

The four emphasize that the international drug trade is the largest criminal market. That is why they want to prevent and combat them together as much as possible.

One of the objectives is to jointly combat import and distribution and to increase resilience against corruption and criminal infiltration at sea ports, airports and postal services, for example.

They also want to work together to steal criminals' money. Technology and innovations should be used as much as possible in detection and control.

Important gateway
Outgoing Justice Minister Grapperhaus says in an explanation: "We must prevent that if we take measures in the port of Rotterdam to combat drug trafficking, which subsequently increases in Antwerp. Both ports are an important gateway to the European market."

Grapperhaus also wants the Dutch police to share information quickly with their Spanish or French colleagues, in order to jointly tackle international criminal groups and their assets in Europe and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Spanish Moroccan crime group busted for large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering https://gangstersinc.org/blog/spanish-moroccan-crime-group-busted-for-large-scale-drug-traffick

In 2021, another record amount of cocaine was intercepted in the Netherlands. Up to and including Christmas, almost 68,000 kilos have been seized, compared to 49,000 kilos all of last year, according to an inventory by the NOS. The number of kilograms intercepted has been rising sharply for years. But whether that is only a success of more effective Customs is doubtful

Several mega consignments of thousands of kilograms were found this year, including the largest cocaine seizure in recent years. It is also striking that more cocaine was found among cargo at Airport Schiphol: from 700 kilos in 2020 to 1,800 kilos in the past year. 500 kilograms of coke were found in passenger luggage this year.

In Colombia, the number of kilograms seized is heading for a record, while prices there remain at the same level. In 2020 the counter came to 505 tons, in 2021 it was already above 622 tons by mid-December. There is now a lower harvest of coca leaves in the country, while production seems to be increasing in recent years, due to investments in better methods.

Since the start of the fight against the international cocaine trade (in 1945), production has only increased.

The UN Drugs Agency (UNODC) this spring signaled a worldwide steady increase in demand , spanning more and more countries, especially now in Asia .

The Spanish police say they have arrested 'one of the most important heroin traffickers in Europe'. According to the authorities, the arrest of a total of nine suspects dismantled a criminal organization that smuggled large quantities of heroin from the Netherlands to Spain. The alleged ringleader who was arrested in Spain last week would, according to Spanish media , 'live in Rotterdam'.

Drug lord Urfi Çetinkaya
A total of nine people have been arrested in the cities of Alcalá de Henares and Alovera, in the provinces of Madrid and Guadalajara, from whom a total of 55 kilograms of heroin were seized. According to Turkish media , the leader of the heroin organization arrested in Spain is closely linked to the network of the Turkish drug lord Urfi Çetinkaya.

He would regularly travel between the Netherlands, Turkey and Spain to plan heroin imports and is said to coordinate and lead one of Europe's most important international heroin organizations.

Urfi

TUFF looking SOB right there.
is this a still shot from breaking bad looks like senor SALAMANCA.

LOL, good one. He's an old school drug lord.

Canadian National Found Guilty of Leading Drug Trafficking Organization that Purchased Hundreds of Pounds of Narcotics

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/p...fficking-organization-purchased-hundreds

Cocaine seizures soar in Chicago, surrounding states, as DEA ‘snow’ forecast comes true
Heroin and marijuana have long been Mexican cartels’ big moneymakers in Chicago. But DEA cocaine seizures rose 50% in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana in the year ending Sept. 30 and keep rising in the Chicago area.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4...ation-cartels-illinois-wisconsin-indiana

During a check in the port of Rotterdam, Customs intercepted a consignment of 1099 kilos of cocaine on Monday. The drugs were hidden in a container from Ecuador and loaded with bananas.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, the street value of the party is more than 82 million euros. The fruit was destined for a company in Rotterdam. This company probably has nothing to do with smuggling.

The HARC team, a partnership of Customs, FIOD, Seaport Police and the Public Prosecution Service, is further investigating the case. The drugs have since been destroyed, the OM reports.

4.3 tonnes of cocaine seized in port of Trieste
One of Europe's biggest-ever narcotics impoundments

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 7 - Italian finance police said Thursday that they have pulled off one of Europe's biggest-ever drugs impoundments, seizing 4.3 tonnes of cocaine in the port of Trieste.
Investigators said the criminal gangs that bought the narcotics paid around 96 million euros for it and it would have been sold on the Italian market for a total of around 240 million euros.
Thursday's operation, coordinated by DDA anti-mafia investigators, saw arrests and other freedom-restricting warrants executed with respect to 38 suspects.
Around two million euros in cash was impounded too. (ANSA).

Looks like a Clan del Golfo/ ndrangheta operation.

Some suspects are in the Netherlands, the investigation was carried out in collaboration with the American DEA.

Europol estimates that more than 60% of criminal groups in the European Union rely on corrupt officials to facilitate their activities.
Spanish authorities have recently dismantled two major drug trafficking networks that used corrupt police officers as part of operations to ship tons of cocaine and hashish into Western Europe.

nyc-drug-trafficker-nelson-cruz-12-others-arrested-in-citywide-drug-bust

https://nypost.com/2022/06/19/nyc-d...2-others-arrested-in-citywide-drug-bust/

Project Gateway charges announced by the Niagara Regional Police Service (Ontario, Canada). This operation investigated transnational organized crime.

https://www.niagarapolice.ca/en/news/project-gateway.aspx

Toronto police seize 671 kg of drugs worth $58 million
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/11/17/toronto-police-seize-almost-700-kg-of-drugs-in-record-bust/

Toronto Police seized $58 million of drugs in the largest one-day bust in city history
https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/11/toronto-police-58-million-drugs/

Toronto police drug bust: Seizure of nearly 700 kilograms of narcotics is biggest in TPS history
https://www.cp24.com/news/police-se...single-day-bust-in-tps-history-1.6157225

The image to which I've linked below is a photo tweet posted by Toronto Star reporter Jennifer Pagliaro.

Drugs seized

Hit by a wave of cocaine seizures authorities are unable to burn it all, storing countless millions worth’ of coke https://gangstersinc.org/blog/hit-by-a-wave-of-cocaine-seizures-authorities-are-unable-to-burn

The longer they allow it to sit around, the more the chance it makes its way to the streets. That large a seizure in Belgium makes me wonder how the country functions, That is a lot of coke for a relatively small nation, and it seems from that article and the links that Belgium was the final stop for this drugs.

More than 5.5 tons of cocaine intercepted in Spanish port

This week, 5,592 kilos of cocaine was found in a container in the port of Valencia. It is one of the largest cocaine seizures in Spain ever, and the largest to have been made in Valencia. The drugs were in a container of fruit. The Guardia Civil did not disclose what kind of fruit and from which country the container was supplied.

5.5 would of turned into 15.5