An operation across Europe led by the Italian Carabinieri and supported by Europol has resulted in the arrest of 13 individuals believed to be linked to Italian organised crime.
In the early hours of 2 July, law enforcement authorities in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Ukraine raided 13 properties. As a result, seven suspects were arrested in Italy, three in Spain, one in Belgium, one in Germany and one in Ukraine. The probe was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, and follows an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.
Smuggling, and attempted escapes by road
The criminal network was composed of individuals of multiple nationalities, including Italians, Spaniards, Argentineans and Colombians, who worked together to carry out their criminal deeds. The investigation uncovered how this Italian criminal network used lorries to smuggle large quantities of hashish from Spain to Italy.
One of the main targets, feeling the heat from law enforcement, escaped to Ukraine by car. He hid there for several months, until his hiding place was identified thanks to the cooperation between Europol and the Italian and Ukrainian authorities. He was subsequently arrested on 2 July.
Building a case through cooperation
Europol has been actively supporting the case since October 2022, bringing together investigators from across Europe to agree on a joint investigative strategy and prepare for the final phase of the action. The Agency provided continuous intelligence development and analysis to support the national investigations. More than 130 messages have been exchanged by the involved law enforcement authorities and Europol via Agency’s secure platform. Part of that support provided by Europol included the identification of suspects monitored during physical surveillance.
During the action day, a Europol expert was deployed to Italy to assist the national authorities with their enforcement measures, and to facilitate the tactical cooperation amongst the concerned countries in real time.
Judicial coordination on the day
To ensure that the criminal group could not avoid justice, Italian authorities used Eurojust’s services to ensure that investigations could take place in other countries and house searches and seizures were executed. During the action, a coordination centre was set up at Eurojust to ensure the smooth running of the actions across Europe.
The investigation and the Action Day have been supported by the @ON Network funded by the EU (Project ISF4@ON) led by the Italian Antimafia Investigation Directorate (DIA).
The following authorities took part in the investigation:
- Belgium: Federal Judicial Police (Federale Gerechtelijke Politie, Police Judiciaire Fédérale)
- Germany: State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landeskriminalamt Nordrhein-Westfalen)
- Italy: Carabinieri (Arma dei Carabinieri)
- Spain: National Police (Policía Nacional)
- Ukraine: National Police (Національна поліція України)