Police in Europe arrest 19 in cocaine network investigation

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have arrested 19 people following an international investigation of a major cocaine trafficking network. Police and the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, made the announcement on Thursday. Authorities have been investigating the trafficking network since February 2021, when 34 tons of cocaine in three shipments were seized in the ports of Hamburg in Germany and Antwerp in Belgium.  Europol said police searched over 35 locations and seized electronic equipment, documents, vehicles, luxury watches and real estate, as well as bank accounts and cash worth 5.5 million euros ($6 million).