Brazil police bust drug ring trafficking cocaine to Europe

SAO PAULO - The Associated Press

Brazilian police are executing hundreds of search and arrest warrants in a crackdown on a drug-trafficking ring that authorities say attempted to smuggle more than 6 tons of cocaine to Europe over the past year.

Federal police say they have been investigating the criminal organization for over a year and that it has used Sao Paulo and the port of Santos as a way-station for drugs. Agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration participated in the investigation.
     
More than 800 federal police fanned out in five states and Brazil's federal district on Monday to serve 190 search and seizure warrants and more than 120 arrest warrants.
     
During the investigation, police have seized cocaine at three ports in Brazil and alerted authorities to drugs arriving in several European countries.