A high-value target (HVT) at the heart of a major cocaine trafficking operation has been arrested, along with six other suspects. The arrests followed an investigation by French, Italian and Swiss authorities, coordinated by Eurojust and Europol. By tracing a financial trail, authorities uncovered a money laundering network that was laundering the illicit proceeds of a criminal group trafficking cocaine from South America into Europe.
Authorities started investigating suspicious financial movements, which revealed a sophisticated money laundering operation involving members of the Camorra and the ‘Ndrangheta. The group behind the service used shell companies, false invoicing and luxury investments to launder millions of euros in cocaine profits.
The money laundering is suspected to be directly linked to a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation moving drugs from South America to Europe. The criminal network allegedly shipped large quantities of cocaine through Europe’s main ports. A seizure by the Belgian customs in late 2025 enabled the authorities to connect the cocaine trafficking to the HVT.
From 2024 onwards, international judicial cooperation was facilitated by a joint investigation team (JIT) at Eurojust. The JIT allowed French, Italian and Swiss authorities to exchange information and evidence in real time, building the case to take action against the criminal group. The Agency also ensured that several European Investigation Orders were prepared for execution on the action day.
Europol has supported this investigation since 2023, providing advanced criminal and financial analysis, secure real-time communication and deployments in the field in France and Italy to support the national investigators.
The international investigation culminated in an action day on 23 February, which took place in France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland. During the action day, seven suspects were arrested, four in France and three in Italy. In France, several luxury vehicles, real estate worth more than EUR 5 million, EUR 600 000 in cryptocurrency and EUR 26 000 in cash were seized.
The actions were carried out by the following authorities:
- France: JIRS Marseille (Interregional specialised Jurisdiction); Gendarmerie Nationale - SR Marseille, GIGN, Canine Unit Hyères, Unit from Cannes and Hyères and National Cyber Unit
- Italy: Public Prosecutor’s Office Naples; Carabinieri - Investigative Unit Torre Annunziata
- Switzerland: Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), Federal Office of Police (fedpol), The Federal Customs and Border Security Office (FOCBS)
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union