New arrests in Croatia: Europol conducts raids across Europe
The Croatian police reported that, together with Europol, they are coordinating an international action involving the police of several countries and the Zagreb office of the US drug enforcement agency DEA, the Khoravt Index writes.
"This morning, an international criminal investigation was launched in a number of countries, including Croatia, aimed at uncovering a criminal group involved in drug smuggling and trafficking. Urgent evidentiary searches of homes and other premises in the Zagreb, Sisak-Moslavin, Primorsko-Goranje, and Krapina-Zagora police departments are ongoing. At the same time, arrests and searches are taking place in Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovenia, and the actions of the partner police are coordinated by the Croatian police from their headquarters in Zagreb," the police said.
The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina reported that the raids were conducted in cooperation with Europol and law enforcement agencies from Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and other EU countries.
The prosecutor's office noted that in the interests of the investigation it could not publish additional information, but the news portal Dnevni avaz from Sarajevo claims that the target is members of a criminal clan led by Dino Muzaferovic from Velika Kladusha.
He is believed to be the organizer of a criminal group that produced large amounts of marijuana in the border area between BiH and Croatia.
Searches of apartments in Zagreb and Rijeka are ongoing. It is possible that the police are searching apartments in other locations.
The international criminal investigation was launched this morning in several countries and is aimed at uncovering a criminal group involved in drug smuggling and trafficking.
Upon completion of the criminal proceedings, the police will hand the suspects over to the supervisor and file a criminal complaint with the Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime.
As a reminder, in a recent report prepared by Australian universities on the popularity of various drugs in the world, all of the countries where Europol raids take place are in the top ten.
For example, Croatia ranks 6th in the world in terms of cocaine use. It is followed by Spain in 5th place, Switzerland in 4th place, the Netherlands in 3rd place, the United Kingdom in 2nd place, and Belgium is at the top of the ranking.
And in terms of cannabis use, Croatia is in the top three world leaders, along with Australia (2nd place) and Spain (1st place).