Colombia’s cartels target Europe with cocaine, corruption and torture
Europe has eclipsed the US as the Colombian cartels’ favoured market, because of higher prices and much lower risks
Sunday, April 11, 2021
At 5am on a chilly Tuesday morning last month, 1,600 police officers and balaclava-wearing special forces, bristling with arms and battering rams, were ordered into action around the Belgian port city of Antwerp. More than 200 addresses were raided in what was the largest police operation ever conducted in the country and potentially one of the most significant moves yet against the increasingly powerful narco-gangs of western Europe. There are hopes that Operation Sky will herald the downfall of a generation of local bosses, although the Belgian and Dutch “godfathers” largely now hide out in Dubai and Turkey, hoping to be out of reach of the authorities. An incredible 27 tonnes of cocaine have been seized on Antwerp’s quays, in container ships and safe houses.
