A Turkish citizen living in the Netherlands was detained in Albania on accusations of leading an international drug gang as part of an investigation conducted by German prosecutors, the Deutsche Welle Turkish edition reported.
The 57-year-old man, whose name was not revealed, was detained by the Albanian border police at Tirana International Airport on Nov. 23. He is accused of heading an international gang that smuggled tons of heroin from Iran to Western European countries via the United Arab Emirates.
Albanian authorities have yet to decide whether the suspect, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued as part of the investigation conducted by the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office, will be extradited to Germany.
Following the man’s detention in Albania, Dutch police raided his home and workplace in Rotterdam.
The investigation by the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office and the German Federal Police is also supported by the European police organization EUROPOL.
The detained Turkish citizen is accused of organizing and financing the transport of 703 kilograms of heroin that was seized from a container ship that was officially carrying soap in the Port of Hamburg in August 2022. The confiscation was recorded as the largest amount of heroin ever seized in Germany.
In September 2022, the German Federal Police announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for a 40-year-old Turkish-Serbian citizen, a 35-year-old Iranian citizen, a 54-year-old German citizen and a 53-year-old Turkish citizen on suspicion of having links to the gang in question.