BELGRADE, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Serbian and German police dealt a major blow to drug cartels by seizing hundreds of kilograms of drugs and arresting 30 suspects, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a press conference here on Tuesday.
Stefanovic said at the Palace of Serbia that the police discovered 303 kilograms of cocaine, 96 kilograms of marijuana and 106 kilograms of hashish that are worth around 20 million euros (22.5 million U.S. dollars)at illegal market, in a grand joint action of Serbian and German police.
The minister said that the investigation lasted 13 months and the suspects are charged with organizing and trading narcotics.
Among the 30 arrested people in Belgrade, there is the 33-year-old leader of a group who is also the leader of a major football fan group, as well as two couriers who carried several kilograms of drugs with them, Stefanovic revealed, adding that police seized a certain amount of money and weapons in the operation.
"The arrest was the excellent example of cross border cooperation within Europe in fighting cross border organized crime and corruption," Stefanovic estimated.
During the operation, seven laboratories for growing marijuana were discovered in Serbia and Germany.
"Serbia will continue intensive cooperation with Germany in all cases of fight against organized crime and corruption," he said, adding that this is the priority of Serbian police.
Stefanovic added that in a separate operation of the Serbian police on Tuesday codenamed "Cyclone", police arrested 123 suspects in 18 cities, charging them with organized and general crime such as attempted murder, drug trafficking, human smuggling, rape, theft, illegal possession of weapons and other offenses.
During the operation, another 176 kilograms of marijuana, about 450 stems of these plants, as well as other drugs and weapons were seized.
