London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Operation Desert Light: Europol take down massive cocaine 'super cartel'

Operation Desert Light: Europol take down massive cocaine 'super cartel'

A drug "super cartel" that controlled about a third of Europe's cocaine supply has been dismantled, police have announced.
Dubbed Operation Desert Light, 49 people were arrested across six European countries, the EU's police agency, Europol, said.

They included a British national, who is suspected of heading the operation.

Over 30 tonnes (30,000kg) of drugs were seized during the two-year-long investigation, Europol said.

Operation Desert Light saw authorities in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) work together to bring down the cartel, Europol said in a statement.

Those arrested included six "high-value targets" - those most wanted by international police.

Europol said the "drugpins" had formed a "prolific criminal network involved in large-scale drugs trafficking and money laundering."

It added that the scale of the drug operation was "massive".

It is the latest in a series of police efforts to hack encrypted phones used by organised crime networks to traffic drugs and launder money.

Cocaine imported from South America via the Netherlands was the main focus of the investigation, and most of the arrests were made there in 2021.

The others were made earlier this month, between 8-19 November, during coordinated raids across the other six countries, Europol said.

A video posted to the agency's YouTube page showed teams of investigators and sniffer dogs searching homes filled with luxury cars, although it is unclear if any assets were seized during the arrests.

The British man suspected of heading the "super cartel" had fled to Dubai after earlier avoiding arrest in Spain, the country's Guardia Civil said in a statement.

He allegedly continued to lead the cartel from the UAE.

An anonymous Europol source told the AFP news agency that another "big fish" Dutch suspect, with alleged links to high-profile Dutch crime boss Ridouan Taghi, was also detained.

Dutch prosecutors said they would request the extradition of the suspects from the UAE who now face large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Analysts say data from the past decade suggests access to cocaine in Europe is increasing yearly.

Offences related to cocaine use or possession are also rising, with an estimated 3.5 million adults consuming the drug in the past year.

Earlier this month, police in Spain conducted a series of raids that resulted in the discovery of the largest haul of cannabis ever found.

The packaged marijuana found was equivalent to approximately 1.1 million plants.

A leading expert in drug policy suggested the operation was "unlikely to have a significant impact on the cocaine market in Europe".

Niamh Eastwood, executive director of charity Release, which supports the decriminalisation and regulation of illegal drugs, said it was a "resilient market".

She said the 2020 international policing operation that brought down EncroChat, a mobile network and maker of modified smartphones used by organised crime groups, led to the seizure of 20 tonnes of drugs in the UK.

"At the time, this was described this as 'the broadest and deepest ever UK operation into serious organised crime'," Ms Eastwood told the BBC. "However, cocaine and other drugs continued be easily available across the country."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×