New Delhi

The Europol announced on Monday that the police in Dubai was able to dismantle a massive “super-cartel” which was reportedly responsible for around one third of Europe’ cocaine trade. The authorities said that 49 people, including six chief suspects, were arrested and in a mission spanning various countries in Europe, the European Union’s police agency also seized 30 tonnes of cocaine.

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"The drug pins, 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."

The mission was executed by Europol along with Dubai police after they were alerted about six “high-value suspects” linked to France, Netherlands and Spain in the United Arab Emirates. It also included one big suspect from Netherlands who was responsible for a majority of the trade.

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"The scale of cocaine importation into Europe under the suspects' control and command was massive and over 30 tonnes of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations," the Europol said in their official statement according to Reuters.

The arrests were the latest in a series that followed a police hack of sophisticated encrypted telephones used by organised crime networks last year, Europol added.

The suspect was identified as a 37-year-old man with dual Dutch and Moroccan nationality and the Netherlands has already submitted an extradition request.

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"These are serious criminal offences pertaining to international drug trafficking, mainly from South America via the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam," the Dutch public prosecution service said in a statement.