Prague, Aug 27 (CTK) – Three Czechs have been caught at home and at least five in other European countries within a raid on an international network of cocaine smugglers, according to information posted on the Czech police website Thursday.
The Czech Anti-Drug Centre registers three people caught in the Czech Republic and another Czech arrested in Spain, but it does not have complete data from other countries on the results of the raid, the centre’s spokeswoman Barbora Kudlackova told CTK.
The arrested Czechs had three kilogrammes of cocaine on them and they face up to 18 years in prison if found guilty of illegal drug production and handling, she said.
One of the main perpetrators was caught in Prague with an accomplice. She hired couriers for smuggling cocaine from Latin America for very low rewards in the Czech Republic, Kudlackova said.
The Czechs helped a Nigerian gang hire couriers or directly smuggle cocaine from Brazil and Colombia to European countries, the police said.
Czech Police President Tomas Tuhy said the extensive operation was supervised by Europol and the police mainly from Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal took part in it.
Two Czech citizens were arrested by the German police at the airport in Frankfurt am Main with three kilos of cocaine hidden in shoes packed in the suitcase of their underage child.
Another Czech was detained after landing in Spain with one kilo of the drug. His plane flew from Brazil.
In Vienna, a Czech and a Nigerian who organised the trips of the couriers were caught.
Apart from facing high prison sentences, the couriers risked damaging their health, Kudlackova said.
A Czech who smuggled 800 grammes of cocaine in his digestive system was transported to hospital, his life was threatened and his health will be affected for the rest of his life, she added.
In the spring, 100 kilogrammes of cocaine were revealed in a Prague supermarket during a random control of a shipment of bananas. Kudlackova said this case was not related to the present raid.
