Over 500 arrested in Europol organised crime swoops

THE HAGUE: European police have arrested over 500 suspects, seized over 2.8 tonnes of cocaine and hundreds of vehicles in a series of raids against organised crime, Europol said on Monday.
Police from all 28 European Union countries and elsewhere carried out the raids in 260 locations between May 4 and June 24 as part of Operation Blue Amber, the pan-European policing agency said in a statement.
Police and customs confiscated 390 vehicles and seized nearly 1,300 tonnes of stolen metal as well as 110 kilos of heroin, it said.
Operations targeted high-volume trafficking in cargo containers, drug couriers flying to Europe from South America as well as drug parcels sent to Europe from Pakistan and Afghanistan “on a daily basis”, Europol said.
“The concealment methods vary greatly, from hiding cocaine in clothes and shoe insoles, to caching heroin in medical instruments,” it said.