Police arrest 11 linked to Balkan cocaine ring, including alleged member of "Pink Panthers" jewel heist gang
CBSN
Police in the Balkans arrested 11 alleged members of a criminal syndicate responsible for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe, Croatia said Wednesday, in the latest effort to crack down on traffickers. Among the people arrested was a suspect who is also wanted for his alleged membership in the notorious "Pink Panthers" jewel heist gang.
The arrests were carried out during raids Tuesday that saw police seize weapons, large amounts of ammunition along with luxury cars and cash, Croatia's interior ministry said in a statement.
The so-called Balkans route is a vital transit network long used by criminals to smuggle drugs, weapons, and people into western Europe.
Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine Thursday in its first major retaliation for Ukraine's attack earlier in the week on a military facility in the Russian region of Bryansk. That strike saw the Ukrainians use American-made and supplied long-range missiles known as ATACMS, which President Biden had given the Ukrainian forces permission to fire deeper into Russian territory only two days earlier.