“Socalj” and “HEARST” for Borderland Beat
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| The so-called Super Cartel importing 1/3 of the cocaine into Europe included multi-ethnic crime groups working together. Only its head, Irish-born Daniel Kinahan remains free and is wanted by multiple agencies including the US. |
The criminal network had two separate structures, one for importing the cocaine into Europe and the other for laundering the proceeds. The large amount of cocaine that the Super Cartel is suspected of shipping into Europe in recent years, is worth an estimated €30 billion. Spanish police say the mega cartel managed to send 10 metric tons of cocaine, worth €760 million through that country in the span of just the last two years.
The Operation
The arrests were a part of “Operation Desert Light”, an effort coordinated by Europol, who worked with law enforcement agencies in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates as well as help from the US DEA to take down a majority of the group.
Over the last two years, Europol has been hosting secret meetings between the aforementioned law enforcement agencies which were focused on taking down the “Super Cartel”. The agencies convened together more than ten times and the United States reportedly provided intelligence support to the endeavor.
The meetings had previously led to Operation 26 Grange, Operation Senna, Operation Faukas, Operation Zapoi, and Operation Le Chiffre, which arrested 46 alleged criminals in total, three of which were considered to be high-value targets. More than €500,000 were confiscated during the Spanish police operation, along with three weapons and high-end cars. The Civil Guard says some of the vehicles were worth around €300,000.
“This gave rise to a large interchange of information, under the Europol umbrella, with other countries’ police forces which resulted in the identification of the people in charge of the introduction of the drugs into the container as well as the ‘contamination’ of the container at the port of origin in Panama,” an official in Spain said.
In their press release, they said that the “drug kingpins considered as high-value targets by Europol had come together to form what was known as a ‘Super Cartel’ which controlled around one-third of the cocaine trade in Europe.”
They added that “The scale of cocaine importation into Europe under the suspects’ control and command was massive and over 30 metric tons of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations.” Europol says the operation focused on taking down both the organizers and the people involved in the everyday-level logistics for the group.
Capos in the Super Cartel
Prior to this, it was largely believed that European organized crime groups worked independently. The partners are believed to have jointly invested in mega-shipments in order to spread out liabilities and risks and increase profits. One of the seizures attributed to the group contained almost 18 tons of cocaine that was seized in Philadelphia en route to the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam in 2019.
Edin “Tito” Gačanin
Edin would purchase wholesale quantities of cocaine from partners like the now-dismantled Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel and independent Peruvian producers, according to a Bosnian police official. He was initially based in the Netherlands, is also a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was arrested in Dubai during the operation.
He is also charged with importing 8,000 kilos of raw chemicals used as precursors in the production of amphetamines. The materials entered Europe via the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, and were directed to the Netherlands. A criminal investigation was started against him after authorities intercepted Sky ECC messages. “Due to the Sky chats, it is also suspected that the man was involved as organizer, broker, and financier in the import of 739.5 kilos of cocaine from Durban (South Africa) to Rotterdam,” they added. “This also includes a batch of approximately 1,800 kilos of cocaine imported via the port of Hamburg, Germany in 2020 with a destination in the Netherlands,” Dutch police said.
Ridouan Taghi
Moroccan Mafia/Angels of Death
Ridouan Taghi allegedly sent some of his closest allies to South America to negotiate cocaine deals. One top lieutenant, Saïd Razzouki, was arrested in Medellín, Colombia, in 2020 while allegedly operating under the protection of Los Urabeños. Other Taghi allies were arrested in Suriname. He himself was arrested in Dubai in 2019 and is currently on trial in the Netherlands for multiple murders.
Raffaele Imperiale
Raffaele Imperiale has worked as a broker with some of Italy’s largest mafia groups, such as Camorra and ‘Ndrangheta. He got his start under the Di Lauro Clan in Naples, Italy, and aligned with the Scissionisti di Secondigliano during the internal Camorra war and split in 2004. He also worked with Colombian groups, including Los Urabeños, also known as the Clan del Golfo or the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC). He was arrested in Dubai in 2021 and extradited back to Italy.
Anthony “Hassan” Alfredo Martínez Meza
Martínez Meza, who is originally from Panama, was believed to be acting as the group’s supplier of cocaine. Based in Dubai, he chartered ships loaded with drugs from the port of Manzanillo, in Panama into Spain. Martínez, according to the European authorities, seemed to be off the radar of the Panamanian authorities. He is listed in public registries as a director of numerous companies in Colon, Panama.
In Panama, the ports have become a safe route for traffickers, given the connections managed locally by two criminal groups that are in charge of receiving, moving, and protecting narcotics while on Panamanian soil. Authorities suspect that he has helped import 10 tons of cocaine into Spain, with the aid of British citizen Ryan James Hale.
Kinahan Clan
The Kinahan gang played a “key coordinating role” in the Super Cartel. Daniel Kinahan had turned to Los Urabeños after another cocaine supply route set up by Dutch-Chilean Ricardo “El Rico” Riquelme was dismantled upon Riquelme’s arrest in 2017. Kinahan partnered with Panamanian Anthony Alfredo Martínez Meza as well, shipping cocaine from Panama’s port of Manzanillo to Spain.
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| Money launderer for the Kinahan’s John Morrissey was arrested in Spain earlier this year. |
Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh was the Kinahan’s long-time head of operations in the UK. He was sentenced in 2022 to 21 years for smuggling £30 million worth of cocaine and cannabis hidden inside industrial equipment. Police who raided his bullet-proofed mansion in Tamworth, near Birmingham, also found hauls of cash and weapons. His conviction marked the downfall of the UK branch of operations.
The Kinahan Clan family members are the only ones left from the Super Cartel. But how long they can avoid authorities while under US sanctions is up for debate. It was reported Daniel and possibly his father Christy Sr. and brother Christy Jr. may have fled from Dubai in search of a safe haven in Asia. All three have $5 million USD rewards for their captures.
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Dubai Became a Safe Haven for Criminals
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Antwerp Became the Epicenter of European Drug Trafficking
The investigations revealed, however, that Spain was only one of the entry routes for the drug into Europe, and that the Super Cartel also introduced important shipments through the ports of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).
The port of Antwerp, Europe’s second-largest, is on track to seize 110 tons of the drug this year, Flemish broadcaster VRT reported. This would have a street value of at least $5.1 billion, according to The Brussels Times, making its destruction a matter of urgency. The locations of the country’s specially licensed incinerators are kept under careful wraps. A Van Quickenborne spokesman has said the seized drugs are “closely monitored.”
49 Arrests Across Europe & Middle-East
It was revealed that 49 people were arrested as part of Operation Desert Light aimed at taking down the Super Cartel, including seven so-called ‘High-Value Targets.’ These arrests are the culmination of parallel investigations run in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UAE with the support of Europol and the DEA into the activities of this prolific criminal network involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.
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A video released by Europol showcasing the operation included footage of luxury cars at Magna Supercars in Marbella, implying the business and the cars were part of the criminal conspiracy. But Europol had to make a new version of the video with the name of the business blurred out at the request of the Civil Guard who provided the footage as the owner of Magna Supercars was not involved in the busts.
Spain
14 Arrests in 2021 with 2 High-Value Targets Arrested in Dubai at Dutch Request10 Arrests
No Arrests During This Operation
Sources: BBC, ABC News, Newsroom Panama, InSight Crime, Daily Mail, Daily Mail, Europol, Sunday World, Irish Mirror, The Sun, Balkan Insight, The Mirror, Brussels Times, Vice, Sunday World
Graphics by HEARST