Investigators have moved against a group of suspected drug traffickers in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Spain and Austria, seizing more than 4 metric tons of cannabis along with kilograms of cocaine and crack cocaine, the Cologne public prosecutor's office said on Monday.
Acting on behalf of the Cologne prosecutor's office, investigators searched 31 private homes, business premises and hiding places. Nine arrest warrants were also executed against suspects aged between 24 and 31.
A total of 31 suspects are currently in the investigators' sights, the prosecutor's office said.
Leading members of the group are alleged to have orchestrated a cross-border drug trafficking operation over a number of years. The total value of the transactions is estimated at more than €11 million ($12.6 million) based on investigations so far.
The quantities of drugs traded and proven so far are also considerable: more than 4 tons of cannabis, more than 27 kilograms of cocaine, around 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine and approximately 800 litres of amphetamine oil.
"This quantity of amphetamine oil is sufficient to produce more than 3 tons of amphetamine," the prosecutor's office said.
The investigation was led by Cologne police, with the involvement of Europol as well as investigative authorities in Spain and Austria.
