Police have dismantled a cocaine trafficking gang that shipped cocaine paste from Colombia to Belgium, the pan-European Europol police agency said on Tuesday.
Europol said the operation resulted in 14 arrests, of which 11 were in Belgium, two in Germany and one in Italy.
Several major seizures, including 667 kg of cocaine intercepted by French customs at the port of Le Havre and two other operations resulting in the recovery of 100 kg and 17 kg of cocaine concealed in vehicles with caches, respectively.
"The gang was led by an Italian family in contact with suppliers in Colombia and chemists in Belgium. They imported huge amounts of cocaine paste, shipped from Colombia to European ports," Europol said.
It said the product was stored in warehouses in Belgium, which were used as laboratories.
The arrests come as Belgium tries to deal with violent crimes often linked to battles between rival drug gangs, many of whom have turned Antwerp and Brussels into major drug trafficking hubs.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Alison Williams)