German-Led Drugs Network Cracked
June 6, 2005An international police operation has cracked a German-led drugs trafficking network partly based in southern Spain, making 11 arrests in Spain, Germany, Britain and at sea, the Spanish interior ministry said Monday. Mostly composed of German smugglers hailing from Berlin, the narcotics ring brought large shipments of cocaine into Europe aboard sailboats from the Caribbean, a ministry statement said. Six suspects were arrested in in Germany, one in Spain and one in Britain. Another three people were arrested in a Spanish navy raid late last month of a German-flagged sailboat, the Are Nui, in which 113 kilograms (250 pounds) of cocaine was confiscated. Officials seized another 115 kilos of cocaine aboard a second sailboat, the ministry said without elaborating.