September 12, 2020 – The Croatian police reported on a drug-raid today in which almost a ton of cocaine was confiscated in Spain.
The raid, under the code-name “Falkuša” (named after a historic Croatian sailboat), was directed against the members of the so-called Balkans Cartel, specialised in drug-smuggling on various yachts and sailboats. At least three Croatian citizens are known to be part of the organisation. They were recruited by the cartel to smuggle the drugs across the ocean on a large sailboat, registered under the Croatian flag, numerous Croatian media outlets (including Večernji list) have reported.
The sailboat sailed out of the Šibenik port in early 2020, only to be sailing along the African smuggling route in late August of this year, south of the Canary Islands, and towards the shores of West Africa. That’s where the locally organised crime groups loaded the cocaine on the sailboat. The special team of the Spanish “Guardia Civil” intercepted the Croatian sailboat with three crew members, all three of them being Croatian citizens. This was carried out on the morning of September the 8th, 2020, in international waters after obtaining the approval by the Croatian authorities.
The boat was taken to Spain’s national waters in the Canary Islands, and 980 packages of one kilo of high-purity cocaine each were found on it.
The street value of the cocaine was estimated to be over 40 million euros. It was destined for European markets, specifically the Spanish and the Croatian markets. Simultaneously, the Croatian law enforcement agencies performed some activities in Šibenik-Knin County, where they apprehended several computers, phones, and other materials that can be linked to the international drug raid.
We can’t wait to see the new season of Netflix‘s series Narcos, titled “The Balkans” with ER’s Goran Višnjić in the leading role!
