According to Serbian Economist, Hungarian law enforcement agencies seized a record 522 kg of cocaine, the Hungarian police reported following a press conference.
According to police, the shipment was discovered at the Csepel port in Budapest among a cargo of bananas. Investigators inspected approximately 7,000 boxes and found 438 blocks of cocaine weighing a total of 522 kg. The estimated black market value of the shipment is approximately 43 million euros. Hungarian authorities called this the largest cocaine seizure in the country’s history.
The operation involved the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation, the Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration, German law enforcement agencies, as well as partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Police also reported the arrest of several suspects. Hungarian law enforcement officials believe the country is becoming one of the logistics hubs through which large shipments of drugs from South America are distributed further across the region.
International container shipments of cocaine have surged in recent years. While major flows previously passed through major ports in the Netherlands and Spain, shipments are now increasingly being routed to Southern and Central Europe as well, including ports in Montenegro. From there, shipments can be redirected to other countries in the region.
Hungary has no seaports, but it is actively used as a transit country thanks to its rail and road connections with Germany, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and the Balkans. Montenegro, which has access to the Adriatic Sea, is also regularly cited in European investigations as one of the most frequent transit points for illicit shipments into the region.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2944
According to Serbian Economist, Europol has reported new progress in the investigation against the so-called “Balkan Cartel”: one of the alleged key members of the network, which investigators link to the supply of large shipments of cocaine from South America to the European market, has been detained in Montenegro. According to the agency, the case involves the smuggling of 2.7 tons of drugs.
As Europol clarifies, Montenegrin judicial authorities have filed charges against several suspects, and the investigation is focused on the international logistics of drug trafficking, financial flows, and the coordination of shipments within Europe. This involves a network that, according to investigators, operated across several countries and used the Balkans as part of a broader criminal network.
Earlier, in December 2025, the agency reported on a separate operation in Germany targeting key figures in this network; at that time, three individuals were detained and assets worth approximately 5 million euros were seized.
For Balkan countries, such cases have not only a criminal but also an economic dimension. Intensified international investigations, expanded data sharing between police and financial intelligence agencies, and pressure on illicit cross-border flows are becoming part of a broader agenda to reduce reputational and institutional risks in the region. For Montenegro, Serbia, and neighboring markets, this is also important from the perspective of investment image, as the fight against organized crime remains one of the EU’s key evaluation criteria.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2642
