This Thursday (11), the Federal Police (PF) launched Operation Balkans, to combat a transnational criminal organization investigated for international drug trafficking and money laundering. The seizure of approximately 2.7 tons of cocaine hidden on a sailboat, intercepted in international waters near Cape Verde, on the African coast, began the investigation, according to the PF. Related news: Group specializing in international cocaine trafficking is targeted by the PF. Spain seizes cocaine on board a ship that stopped in Brazil. Over the course of almost three years of investigative work, federal police officers identified a “criminal structure aimed at sending cocaine from South America to Europe via transatlantic maritime routes”. The police actions take place in cities in São Paulo where 12 search and seizure warrants were executed at addresses linked to the suspects in Santos, Guarujá and the capital of São Paulo. The warrants were issued by the 17th Federal Criminal Court of the Judiciary Section of Bahia. “The Federal Court also ordered the blocking of bank accounts and financial investments, as well as the seizure of vehicles, properties and other assets from those investigated, up to a limit of R$20 million.” According to the PF, the seized material will undergo forensic examination and “analyzed in the context of the investigations, with the aim of deepening the identification of those involved, clarifying the dynamics of the facts discovered and supporting the continuity of the criminal prosecution”.