Was a Super Cartel Really Controlling Europe's Drug Trade?

The arrest of a top Balkan drug trafficker in Dubai has revealed how some of Europe's leading drug traffickers were able to work together to procure cocaine in bulk from producer countries in Latin America.

Operation Desert Light, coordinated by Europol, saw dozens of suspects arrested in the United Arab Emirates, France, Spain, and Belgium between November 8 and 19. The arrest of Edin Gačanin, alias "Tito", in Dubai was seen as the most important of the entire operation.

The so-called super cartel was likely not a formal alliance but a successful example of "crowdsourcing," with different criminal actors pooling their money to buy cocaine cheaper in bulk.

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