3 Arrested in Cocaine Smuggling Probe Linked to Findel
Three suspects arrested in Germany and the Netherlands over a cocaine trafficking network linked to Luxembourg’s Findel Airport.
European authorities have arrested three suspected members of an alleged international drug trafficking organisation accused of smuggling tonnes of cocaine into Europe through front companies, including shipments routed via Luxembourg’s Findel Airport.
Investigators searched 27 residential and commercial properties across the German states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as locations in the Netherlands. The operation was coordinated by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, German customs investigators and police authorities.
Authorities arrested a 53-year-old Turkish national in Herborn, Hesse, along with two Dutch nationals, aged 59 and 56, in the Dutch cities of Amersfoort and Assen.
Prosecutors also named two additional suspects, aged 57 and 26, who are facing charges but were already in custody at the time of the operation.
According to investigators, the suspects were allegedly members of an international criminal organisation active between June 2024 and January 2026.
The Frankfurt prosecutor’s office alleges the organisation imported tonnes of cocaine from South America using both air freight and container shipping routes.
Among the shipments linked to the investigation is a seizure at Luxembourg’s Findel Airport in early February 2025, when authorities discovered more than 500 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a shipment of tapioca from South America.
Prosecutors stressed that two other major drug seizures in Luxembourg, a 900 kilograms of cocaine found inside a stone-crushing machine in February 2025 and a separate 500-kilogram seizure at Findel Airport in January 2026, are not connected to the current case.
Investigators allege members of the organisation took control of existing businesses and used them as front companies to disguise cocaine imports into Europe.
The companies were reportedly located in Braunschweig and Isernhagen in Lower Saxony, as well as Karben and Dreieich in Hesse. Authorities claim straw men were installed as company directors to coordinate shipments and conceal the group’s activities.
Officials said that between February 2025 and January 2026, four cocaine imports believed to be connected to the organisation were intercepted in Luxembourg, Colombia and Hamburg. The seized shipments reportedly totalled around 2.5 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of €180 million.
Prosecutors allege the 59-year-old suspect acted as a partner and managing director of the front companies, while the 53-year-old served as a logistics specialist. The 26-year-old is accused of coordinating the unloading of cocaine shipments.
The Turkish national arrested in Germany is expected to appear before a magistrate. German authorities have also submitted an extradition request for one of the suspects arrested in the Netherlands.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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