Europol has announced the success of a large-scale international operation, codenamed Operation Bulut, which led to the dismantling of four major criminal networks involved in drug trafficking into the European Union and Turkey.
During coordinated raids conducted in cooperation with law enforcement authorities from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain, a total of 232 suspects were arrested, including several “high-value targets.”
According to Europol, the investigation resulted in the seizure of at least 21 tonnes of drugs, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets. The criminal groups employed both traditional smuggling routes and sophisticated logistics networks.
In addition to drug trafficking, the investigation uncovered the groups’ involvement in money laundering, violent crimes, and other forms of organized criminal activity. A key role in exposing these networks was played by data obtained from encrypted communication platforms such as Sky ECC and ANOM.
Over the past two years, Europol has actively coordinated efforts among participating countries by organizing strategic meetings and providing intelligence that helped map out the structure of the criminal networks and their links to other investigations.
