Heroin kingpin arrested after 703 kilos of heroin found in soap shipment Heroin trafficking is still lucrative for criminal networks operating in Europe

 An international law enforcement operation supported by Europol has led to the arrest of a suspected heroin trafficker running a criminal network stretching from Iran to Western Europe.

The investigation was led by the German authorities with the support of the Netherlands and Europol. Over the past few months, the authorities involved joined forces within the framework of an Operational Taskforce (OTF) set up at Europol to gather intelligence and coordinate the operational activities. 

On 23 November, a 57-year-old Turkish citizen was arrested in Albania. Residential and business properties linked to the suspect and his girlfriend were searched in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The suspect, one of Europol’s high-value targets, is suspected of heading a criminal network responsible for the large-scale import of heroin into Western Europe. 

The investigation was able to link the suspect to the seizure of 703 kilos of heroin in the port of Hamburg in Germany on 30 August 2022. The heroin was hidden in a container shipment of soap originating from Iran.

A single dose of a two-digit milligram consumption unit of heroin can be fatal to the consumer. The suspect is now awaiting his extradition to Germany.

Europol’s support

Europol has supported this investigation since April 2022 with continuous intelligence development and the coordination of the operational strategy between all the countries involved.

An Operational Taskforce was launched at Europol in August 2023. This Taskforce is the result of law enforcement heightened understanding of heroin trafficking in Europe, based on this case and other further developed and supported in the framework of Europol’s analysis work into encrypted criminal communications.

While cocaine is grabbing the headlines, heroin trafficking is still an attractive venture for criminals. The OTF aims to identify and disrupt the ‘control and command’ of heroin supply and targets criminal networks, in the EU and beyond, that are behind multi-tonne shipments of heroin to the EU.

Authorities involved in this investigation

• Germany: Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) and Prosecutors Office in Dresden/Germany
• Netherlands: Netherlands Police - National Investigations and Special Operations Unit and Netherlands Public Prosecutors Service – National Public Prosecutor’s Office.
• Albania: Border Police
• Europol: European Serious Organised Crime Centre