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Law enforcement authorities across Europe and Turkey have dismantled four major criminal networks responsible for fueling the flow of drugs into the EU and Turkey, following a series of coordinated raids supported by Europol.
These results were made possible by the continued use of encrypted communication platforms, including Sky ECC and ANOM, which remain powerful tools in the hands of investigators.
On April 15, coordinated raids were carried out in several European countries and Turkey, targeting both the leadership and logistical arms of these criminal networks. A total of 232 suspects were arrested in the operation, including individuals who played a key role in drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
The investigations spanned multiple jurisdictions, with authorities in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain joining forces with Europol to disrupt networks operating across the European continent.
During the investigations, over 300 million euros in assets were seized in Turkey and Europe, including 681 properties and 127 vehicles. These criminal organizations had established themselves as dominant players in the European drug trade.
Using traditional smuggling routes and sophisticated logistics, the groups are suspected of being the owners of a quantity of 21 tons of drugs seized in Europe and Turkey, including 3.3 million MDMA tablets. Investigators also exposed the groups' involvement in money laundering, violent crime and a wider network of organized criminal activity.
Europol announces that this operation was built on intelligence extracted from the SkyECC and ANOM platforms.
“ As part of the operational framework, the French authorities shared decrypted SkyECC data with Turkey to support the development of local investigations into the most prominent suspects of organised crime in the country. As part of the ongoing judicial cooperation in relation to SKY ECC data, the French Public Prosecution Service JUNALCO handles all requests for international mutual legal assistance sent by interested countries. ANOM intelligence was provided to the Turkish authorities by the Australian Federal Police, further enriching the intelligence picture. This cooperation facilitated the deployment of Turkish National Police officers to Europol headquarters, where they worked side by side with European investigators supported by Europol to analyse encrypted communications and identify criminal networks operating in Turkey. The resulting intelligence led to the first wave of arrests in Türkiye, targeting key figures at the top of the drug trafficking hierarchy. While the investigation revealed substantial links to organised crime across the EU, the operation entered a second phase – coordinated by Europol – bringing together law enforcement authorities from several member states to disrupt the networks' activities on European soil ," Europol's announcement said.
Over the past two years, Europol has played a key role in coordinating efforts across Europe to support investigations into these criminal networks. Hosting high-level coordination meetings, Europol brought together all the countries involved to develop a common strategy, while intelligence shared through its channels helped map the structure of the networks and identify links to other cases. Europol also facilitated efforts to determine the scope of the investigations between the joint investigation team SKY ECC (France, the Netherlands and Belgium) and Turkish investigators.
Using its extensive data sets, Europol checked information on suspects against passenger name records and other systems, enabling silent surveillance of key targets. These efforts strengthened operational results, leading to new intelligence developments.
Europol also played a crucial role in the operational phase by setting up a real-time coordination platform between designated country coordinators. This system ensured rapid and effective decision-making, allowing for continuous adjustments of the strategy as the situation developed. In addition, Europol deployed staff in the Netherlands to support the enforcement activities of the Dutch authorities.
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