Slovenian police dismantle two international drug-smuggling networks

Slovenian police, working with European law enforcement agencies, have disrupted two international drug-smuggling networks in separate investigations, seizing drugs worth more than €37 million in one case and preventing the shipment of cocaine valued at several hundred million in another.

In the larger investigation by its duration and scope, Slovenian police arrested 34 suspects last week following a four-year investigation into a criminal organisation operating across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain and the Netherlands, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The operation involved 22 national police forces from the EU and the Western Balkans, with Europol providing analytical and coordination support. Investigators divided the network into six distinct criminal groups and filed charges against all of them.

Authorities seized more than three tonnes of cannabis, over 700 kg of cocaine, more than 100 kg of heroin and smaller quantities of other drugs, including amphetamines and methamphetamine. In Slovenia, the police seized 15 kg of amphetamines and 51 kg of cannabis.

The network moved drugs from Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium to other European countries, concealing them in legitimate cargo. Its members used encrypted communications platforms and were suspected of involvement in kidnappings, an attempted murder, and weapons offences.

Police highlighted that the group was exceptionally violent, citing shootings and attacks involving explosives, including hand grenades. Two kidnappings in Slovenia were linked to disputes over drug seizures and suspicions of informants, investigators said.

The Ljubljana District Court has remanded 13 of the 34 suspects in custody and placed two under house arrest.

Freight companies implicated in second case

In a separate investigation lasting about a year, Slovenian police and Europol worked with authorities in several European countries to dismantle a network involving three Slovenia-based transport companies.

The group allegedly smuggled drugs from Belgium and the Netherlands to northern Europe, concealing them in legitimate cargo. Its members organised transport themselves and recruited additional drivers, Slovenian police revealed on 13 October.

A major breakthrough in the investigation came when Belgian law enforcement prevented two Serbian suspects from collecting a shipping container in Antwerp in December last year. It contained 5.7 tonnes of cocaine, estimated to be worth €285 million.

Cocaine and amphetamine shipments were also intercepted in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. A Slovenian suspect arrested in Denmark has already been sentenced there to 10 years in prison, while another suspect was detained in Slovenia.

The busts highlight how Slovenia remains a crucial transit point for drugs in Europe, and how deeply entrenched organised crime is in the region, with the news coming just days after more than a dozen members of the infamous Montenegrin cartel known as the Kavač clan received lengthy sentences in Slovenia.

"We are not talking about individual instances of drug trafficking, these are large-scale criminal activities and this bust is a major blow to organised crime," said Primož Ogrinc, the head of the criminal police's department for organised crime.

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