Authorities in Albania and Italy have busted a narcotics trafficking ring suspected of being smuggled into Europe of at least two tons of cocaine from South America, Europol announced today.

The operation led to the arrest of 29 people, almost entirely in Italy. The suspects are suspected of having hidden in containers of exotic fruits on ships arriving in European ports from South America at least 2 tons of cocaine, 20 kilograms of marijuana and 46 kilograms of hashish since November 2021.

The drugs were seized in various operations, Europol said. The arrested persons, led by two Albanian brothers, are also accused of distributing drugs throughout Europe.

"When the drugs arrived in Europe, the recovery teams would remove the drugs from the containers and sell them to other criminal networks," Europol added.

Law enforcement officers raided locations in Albania, Italy, France, Spain and Romania on Tuesday, seizing various criminal assets.

Investigations into the Albanian criminal network began in 2021 at the initiative of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Florence in Italy, the authorities said. That same year, a joint investigation group was created between the Italian and Albanian authorities. The investigation was supported by intercepted communications between criminal organizations, which used the SkyECC encrypted mobile communications tool, European authorities added.