Raid against drug gang: Arrests after smuggling of 2.5 tons of cocaine

On Tuesday, investigators arrested three suspects, including a 53-year-old in Herborn (Lahn-Dill), and two men in the Netherlands. According to the statement, those arrested are two Dutch nationals aged 59 and 56, as well as a 53-year-old Turkish national. The man arrested in Herborn was to be brought before a magistrate on Tuesday; an extradition request was filed with the Dutch authorities for the two men detained in the Netherlands.

So-called 'Überhaftbefehle' (priority detention orders) were issued against two other suspects who are already in custody. According to the information, the two other suspects are a 57-year-old and a 26-year-old. They are accused of membership in a criminal organization and gang-related trafficking in narcotics, or aiding and abetting, respectively. The suspects are said to have been part of the international structure between June 2024 and January 2026.

Arrests in Hesse and the Netherlands

In the coordinated operation, the approximately 120 officers involved searched a total of 27 residential and business premises in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and in the Netherlands. In Hesse, the raids took place in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, as well as in the districts of Lahn-Dill, Main-Kinzig, Main-Taunus, Offenbach, and Groß-Gerau, according to the Prosecutor General's Office. Investigators also struck in Braunschweig and Isernhagen in Lower Saxony.

Shell companies as transshipment hubs

At the heart of the investigations is a sophisticated network of companies: the suspects used pre-existing companies in Germany, according to investigators. By importing legal goods, they concealed the illegal trade in cocaine — flanked by straw men installed as managing directors. Shell companies in Hesse apparently served as central transshipment hubs. In addition to companies in Lower Saxony, companies in Karben (Wetterau) and Dreieich (Offenbach) were also part of the smuggling network, according to the findings.

The investigators accuse the 59-year-old Dutchman of having acted as a partner and managing director of the shell companies used. Straw men were installed as managing directors and coordinated the cocaine deliveries. The 26-year-old suspect is said to have served as coordinator for the unloading of the cocaine. With this structure, the gang used the legal flow of goods as a cover.

Seizures in multiple countries

In the course of the investigations, a total of four cocaine imports were seized between February 2025 and January 2026 — in Luxembourg, Colombia, and Hamburg — with a total weight of approximately 2.5 tons, according to the prosecutor's office. These individual seizures reinforce the accusation that the gang is said to have smuggled tons of cocaine from South America to Germany and the Netherlands over an extended period of time.

The Frankfurt Prosecutor General's Office, the Customs Investigation Office, and the police had jointly announced the operation. The authorities view the arrests and searches as a significant blow against organized drug trafficking in the region. Whether further suspects will be arrested in the coming days initially remained unclear.

Overall, the prosecutor's office assumes that the organization operated over several years and generated millions in profits from the cocaine smuggling. The investigations are ongoing while the seized evidence is being evaluated. The role of other alleged middlemen and possible links to other investigative proceedings are also the subject of the ongoing investigations.