Brazilian police crack international drug network
Baku, November 18 (AZERTAC). Police in Brazil say they have arrested 22 people as part of an 18-month effort to break an international drug syndicate.
The arrests are the latest in Operation Desert, targeting a group smuggling Bolivian cocaine to Africa and Europe.
A total of 50 arrest warrants were issued during the operation and those held include Colombians, Bolivians and Europeans, as well as Brazilians.
Police also seized two planes, weapons and several tonnes of cocaine.
Officials said in addition to the 22 arrested on Wednesday, a further 20 suspects were already in prison, and eight - one Brazilian and seven Europeans - remained on the run.
Guilherme de Castro Almeida of the federal police`s drug enforcement department said Interpol had been asked to detain seven European suspects, but he would not reveal their nationalities or whereabouts.
One of the two planes confiscated during the operation, Mr. Almeida said, was a small craft used to fly cocaine from Bolivia.
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