Croatian prosecutors said on Thursday they had charged eight people with trafficking cocaine worth more than 16 million euros ($17.6 million) to Europe, in the latest case targeting Balkan narcotics groups.
The eight were charged for smuggling drugs from South America to “Croatia and other European Union member countries”, the national anti-corruption and organised crime bureau (USKOK) said.
The bureau said the group was responsible for trafficking at least 609 kilogrammes (1,343 pounds) of cocaine.
The suspects face multiple charges including “drug production and trafficking, aggravated murder, production and purchase of weapons and explosives”, USKOK added.
Local media said the eight were believed to be part of the Croatian branch of the Balkan “cocaine ring” linked to former narcotics boss Darko Saric, who is imprisoned in Serbia.
Prosecutors said the shipments of cocaine linked to the alleged suspects were smuggled from South America to the southern Croatian port of Ploce over the course of three years from 2019 to 2022.
The investigation was conducted in cooperation with Ecuador, Serbia, several European Union countries, the bloc’s judicial agency Eurojust, and Interpol.
Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/croatia-charges-eight-suspected-drug-traffickers-91c831d0
