LOC20:37
17:37 GMT
BRUSSELS, Dec 22 (KUNA) -- An extensive network of heroin traffickers, bringing large quantities of the drug into the EU, has been dismantled, Europol announced in a statement Monday.
Almost 400 suspects were arrested and 100 kilograms of heroin was seized, along with quantities of cocaine, cannabis and cash during the course of the long-running investigation.
Notably, four tonnes of drug-cutting agents were also seized, indicating the significant scale of the network's operation, the statement said.
The gang, operating from their bases in Austria, Germany and Macedonia, brought heroin into the EU along the Balkan Route and distributed it across several European countries.
Their aims were to circulate high-quality heroin in Europe at very low prices and carry out large-scale drug trafficking, especially in Austria and Germany.
Afghanistan is the primary source of heroin encountered in the EU. There is significant trafficking towards Europe of heroin that has exited Afghanistan via the borders with Pakistan and Iran, which is the shortest and most direct route to Europe, it noted. (end)
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