Cocaine worth €4.4m seized at Luxembourg Airport’s cargo centre

Cocaine worth an estimated €4.4 million has been intercepted at Luxembourg Airport’s cargo centre, the public prosecutor’s office has said, in the latest such seizure at the airport amid concerns it is being targeted by criminal networks as a transit hub.

Almost 88 kilograms of cocaine were recovered, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday, without specifying when the seizure took place.

“This seizure represents a significant quantity of drugs intended for distribution networks,” it said. “The evidence gathered in this case highlights the typical characteristics of organized crime.”

The public prosecutor’s office said that the “volume of narcotics seized, the use of international transport routes, and the apparent structure of the operations demonstrate the existence of an organised network, based on a division of roles among various participants.”

Close cooperation with French authorities had helped disrupt the smuggling operation, according to the public prosecutor’s office.

“Several people involved in this transnational trafficking operation were apprehended on French territory. Four individuals were arrested, three of whom were remanded in custody,” the public prosecutor’s office said. “The investigation is currently continuing in France under the direction of an investigating judge in Paris.”

The public prosecutor’s office reiterated that the principle of the presumption of innocence applies to all those arrested.