Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish, and German law enforcement agencies, working together under the coordination of the EU’s judicial cooperation agency EUROJUST, have seized 2.2 tons of cocaine at the port of Caucedo in the Dominican Republic. The shipment, worth an estimated 70 billion forints, was connected to a Hungarian-led criminal organization, officials announced at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday.
The network’s leader, identified as Ferenc M, was captured in Germany and is awaiting extradition. According to Máté Csupor, head of the Anti-Drug Division at Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation, the suspect operated companies that imported bananas, sugarcane, clothing, and scrap metal from South America—concealing cocaine within legitimate goods to smuggle it into Europe.
His associate, Gyula F, established Slovak shell companies using frontmen to facilitate the trade and negotiated with major global shipping firms to organize the shipments from Central and South America. He had already been detained earlier by authorities and is also suspected of committing large-scale tax fraud worth 10 billion forints, according to investigators.
With extensive coordination among the four countries’ authorities, a joint operational centre in Hungary directed simultaneous raids at 45 locations, including 13 in Hungary, involving 580 officers. In addition to the cocaine seizure in the Dominican Republic, investigators found 370,000 euros in cash and uncovered an illegal cigarette factory in Slovakia containing 3.5 million cigarettes and 14 tons of tobacco. Ten suspects were arrested in Slovakia and two in Hungary.
Investigators allege that Ferenc M had also sold hundreds of kilograms of drugs within Hungary, including 60,000 ecstasy tablets, 280 kilograms of marijuana, and 40 kilograms of cocaine. He is further suspected of a violent crime after allegedly tying a business associate’s relative to a chair and threatening him with a firearm.
Lieutenant Csupor emphasized that the case demonstrates how global organized crime can only be effectively tackled through international cooperation.
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