Yacht under Croatian flag: Ton of cocaine from Balkan cartel seized in the Canaries

As part of their activities, Croatian police gathered initial information about transatlantic smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, in which Croatian citizens are actively involved as members of the so-called “Balkan Cartel”. Given this information, at the beginning of 2020, police officers from the Police National Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime – Drug Crime Service and Split Service, and the Šibenik-Knin Police Administration began a criminal investigation codenamed “FALKUŠA”.
 
Due to the pronounced international character of the criminal activities, even in the initial phase, the Croatian police initiated trilateral cooperation with the Spanish “Civil Guard” (Guardia Civil) and French customs.
 
In addition to the aforementioned agencies, the following agencies provided support in conducting the “FALKUŠA” criminal investigation: Europol, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration – Zagreb Office), British NCA (National Crime Agency), Dutch National Police, and the police of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (MUP of the Republic of Srpska).
 
The “FALKUŠA” criminal investigation is directed towards a criminal cell within the so-called "Balkan Cartel" that specializes in providing drug smuggling "services" using sailboats and yachts. This criminal cell consists of at least three Croatian citizens recruited by the cartel for transatlantic cocaine smuggling via a transoceanic sailboat. The sailboat was registered in the Republic of Croatia and sailed under the Croatian flag. 
 
The criminal investigation conducted so far has established that the mentioned Croatian citizens sailed from Šibenik with the sailboat at the beginning of 2020, and at the end of August this year, they sailed the African smuggling route from the Canary Islands, Kingdom of Spain, south, towards the coasts of West Africa, where local organized criminal groups, engaged by the cartel, loaded cocaine onto the Croatian sailboat. 
 
In a coordinated action, a special team of the Spanish ”Guardia Civil” intercepted the Croatian sailboat in international waters on the morning of September 8, 2020, with the prior approval of the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia. The crew consisted of three Croatian citizens. After a search due to suspicion of drug smuggling, the sailboat was towed to the national waters of the Canary Islands (Kingdom of Spain).

A search of the sailboat in the Canary Islands found a total of 980 packages containing approximately 980 kilograms of high-purity cocaine. According to the estimates of Spanish colleagues, the street value of the seized cocaine is over 40 million euros. According to the information gathered so far, the cocaine was intended for the European, Spanish, and Croatian illegal drug markets. 
 
In a coordinated manner with the arrest of the Croatian citizens and the search of the sailboat in the Canaries, Croatian police officers conducted several evidentiary actions on September 11 in the area of the Šibenik-Knin Police Administration, searching the homes and other premises of several individuals connected to the arrested persons. During these searches, several computers, mobile phones, and other items were seized. The criminal investigation into this case of international maritime cocaine smuggling continues, with the aim of clarifying all circumstances.
 
This is another in a series of criminal investigations aimed at suppressing international smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, which the Croatian police have conducted in cooperation with international police and anti-drug agencies. It has once again shown that real-time international police and inter-agency cooperation is irreplaceable in the fight against international criminal organizations such as the so-called "Balkan Cartel".