One of Europe's most wanted drug traffickers and 15 other suspects have been arrested in Brazil this week in a major international operation against an organized crime group trafficking cocaine between Brazil and Europe, Europol said on Friday.
The person accused of being the gang's ringleader is a Serbian national residing in Brazil and is considered "one of the most important targets within Europol's OTF Balkan Cartel due to his role in organizing numerous drug shipments between continents," a Europol statement said.
"This series of arrests in Brazil marks a significant victory in the fight against the Western Balkan criminal groups operating around the globe," the statement added.
European, Brazilian and U.S. authorities collaborated to gather and share intelligence about the suspects over the last year and a half.
Europol said that in the early hours of Oct. 5, a series of raids were carried out at different locations in Brazil, such as Sao Paulo, Ceara and Parana.
Several of the 16 arrested are believed to have had ties to the Primeiro Comando da Capital criminal organization.
Europol said the Brazilian investigators were able to link this criminal gang to two recent cocaine seizures. One of 5.7 tons of cocaine on board a fishing vessel in Cape Verde in April 2022, and a second one of 1.3 tons of cocaine on board a fishing vessel in Fortaleza, Brazil, in August 2022.
A total of 12 suspects-10 Brazilian nationals and 2 Montenegrin nationals-were arrested on these two occasions.
