The Polish Border Guard, in coordination with German authorities and European security agencies, launched an operation dismantling an intercontinental drug trafficking network, seizing a massive cannabis shipment weighing nearly 1.2 tons with a black market value exceeding 425 million baht. The drugs were concealed in containers of "bricks" shipped from Thailand via the port of Hamburg, Germany, before eight suspects were arrested.
The Polish Border Guard announced a successful crackdown on a transnational crime network smuggling drugs across borders, seizing 1,194 kilograms of cannabis valued at 48 million zlotys (approximately 425 million baht) on the black market.
Marcin Kiełtyka, Poland's Minister of the Interior, stated this operation represents the largest drug seizure by the Border Guard in several years. It resulted from international cooperation under a European investigation order, involving German customs officials in Hanover, a joint anti-drug task force in Oldenburg in northwest Germany, Europol, and the European Union's judicial cooperation agencies.
Reports indicate the criminal network exploited commercial shipping routes and international supply chains to evade detection. They transported containers falsely declared as legal commercial bricks originating from Thailand, passing through the port of Hamburg, Germany, with the final destination in Poland.
Officials found the drugs concealed in two containers. The first, intercepted at Hamburg port in Germany, contained 815 kilograms of cannabis hidden inside specially modified laterite bricks. The second container, destined for the same recipient in Poland, held an additional 379 kilograms of cannabis.
The arrests were conducted in two main phases. The first occurred on 6 May in Szczecin, northwest Poland, where four men, including the importing company's owner who was receiving the shipment, were detained during the unloading of the containers. On 15 June, authorities arrested four more suspects near Poznań in western Poland, totaling eight suspects aged between 29 and 57.
Currently, prosecutors have charged all suspects with importing and smuggling large quantities of drugs within the European Union. Three face additional charges for involvement in an organized crime group, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Six suspects remain in custody for three months during trial proceedings, one has been released after investigation, and another is under police supervision awaiting prosecution.
General Robert Bąk, commander of the Polish Border Guard, stated that over the past 30 months, the Border Guard, in cooperation with customs and police investigative agencies, has seized approximately 3 tons of drugs worth over 200 million zlotys, including cocaine, methamphetamine, cannabis, crystal meth, and mephedrone.
However, the cannabis smuggling case originating from Thailand remains under in-depth investigation by the Anti-Organized Crime and Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk to identify and apprehend the network's masterminds, with further arrests possible.
.sourcePolskie Radio/TVP World