Eurojust dismantles large drug trafficking network, seizes six million pills

Police forces in four different European countries have dismantled a large criminal group that trafficked millions of pills to the European Union's northern countries. The action was coordinated by Eurojust, the EU’s agency for criminal justice cooperation.

47 suspects were arrested and more than six million illegally exported pills were seized in the large-scale operation conducted simultaneously by Estonian, Finnish, Romanian and Serbian police. The operation was led by Eurojust, the European agency that coordinates cooperation between EU member states' judicial authorities.

“The criminal group, which operated throughout Europe, bought pills from other criminal networks in Serbia,” Eurojust explained. “The pills, used to treat anxiety, seizures and insomnia, were then hidden in tyres, in cars, which were transported on lorries, and in clothing to be taken to Romania and Estonia.”

After arriving in Romania or Estonia, the pills were transported to the Nordic countries Finland and Norway, where members of the criminal group acted as distributors and sold the pills on the streets. The total market value of the seized pills amounts to 12.5 million euros, according to Eurojust.

The arrests occurred during a large-scale police operation on Thursday, coordinated by Eurojust and Europol, during which 61 searches took place simultaneously in Romania, Serbia and Finland. Police also seized a lot of mobile phones, several firearms and luxury cars.

^{The Eurojust building in The Hague © BELGA PHOTO ANP/KOEN VAN WEEL}