Brazilian authorities have arrested seven people in São Paulo in a coordinated operation targeting an alleged cocaine trafficking and money-laundering network linked to Italy’s ’Ndrangheta criminal organization, Europol said. The action, conducted on Sept. 16, was supported by Italian law enforcement and Europol. Authorities searched five residential and two commercial properties connected to the network. They also seized nine real estate properties, two companies and other assets, while freezing multiple bank accounts and collecting physical and digital evidence. According to Europol, the investigation uncovered an industrial-scale trafficking route moving multi-tonne cocaine shipments from Brazil to Europe through commercial freight cargo. The organization allegedly concealed drugs in legitimate shipments, including ceramics, timber, sanitary products and food, before using European logistics hubs to distribute the cocaine and launder the proceeds. The operation, code-named EREDITÀ, followed earlier Italian-Brazilian investigations known as SAMBA and MAFIUSI, which resulted in 28 arrests. Europol provided intelligence, operational and financial analysis, hosted coordination meetings and deployed a financial expert during the action. The investigation was conducted by Italy’s ROS Carabinieri and Brazil’s Federal Police, with support from the EU-funded ON Network and the EMPACT initiative. Post navigation Two Men Charged Over Gladstone Thefts