An alleged drug smuggler is being sought in connection with a global drug smuggling operation belgium port of antwerp Has been arrested, Dubai Police said on Monday.
Othman El Balouti, who was once US approved Last aged, he was held on a global arrest warrant issued by the Belgian government.
“El Balouti has been handed over to the Dubai Public Prosecution for legal proceedings related to extradition,” a police observation noted.
If El Balouti had a lawyer there would be no sunshine right now.
El Balouti, 37, was believed to be living in the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms in the Arabian Peninsula, which is also home to Abu Dhabi. that was once Accepted in 2023 Through the US Treasury which described him as “a high-level drug trafficker”.
“El Balouti manages an international criminal organization that smuggles significant quantities of cocaine through shipping containers through the Port of Antwerp in Belgium for widespread distribution throughout Europe,” the Treasury Department report said. “Othman El Balouti’s money laundering and narcotics supply chain networks are linked to businesses based in the People’s Republic of China, as well as South American cocaine suppliers.”
US treasury section
In view of the ongoing sanctions, the US took a step to list El Balouti’s residence as a high-end condo complex in downtown Dubai, which also includes the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa.
With the United Arab Emirates now leading the global policing body Interpol, the country faces fresh surprises over its lax assessments on money laundering and reluctance to extradite suspects. This has become even more effective as Russian cash flows into the public amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
In response, the UAE has made a number of impressive arrests and extradited suspects back to the West.
This arrest marks the origin story of the primary cocaine bust around the world in contemporary days. on friday, Russia said It arrested suspected members of a Colombian cartel who were trying to smuggle millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Europe. Meanwhile, in the Dominican Republic the government seized almost 9.5 tons of cocaine With a cargo of bananas at the country’s most influential port.
The generation before that, Portuguese police said They destroyed one of the “largest” cocaine laboratories in Europe in an operation that resulted in seven arrests and the seizure of some 1,500 kilograms of the drug.
At the end of November, police in the Balkans 11 alleged members arrested Of a prison syndicate responsible for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe. Apart from this, Param Yuga, the colombian navy said Governments from dozens of countries seized more than 225 metric tons of cocaine in a six-week mega-operation where they discovered an untouched Pacific smuggling route from South America to Australia.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this file.
