MADRID: European police forces have arrested around 40 people in a years-long operation to bust a major drug smuggling ring, leading to the seizure of eight tonnes of cocaine, Europol said Thursday.

The cartel, whose leaders were based in Turkey and Dubai, had been dealt a major blow after a final set of arrests Wednesday, the Hague-based police coordination agency said.

The network had “the capacity to transport tonnes and tonnes of cocaine all over the world”, Oscar Esteban Remacha, head of the anti-drug trafficking unit at Spain’s Guardia Civil, said at a press conference in Madrid.

According to Europol, the final phase of the operation began with the August 2023 discovery by the Guardia Civil of 700 kilos (1,540 pounds) of cocaine in a boat off the Canary Islands, which was crewed by Croat and Italian citizens.