Law enforcement agencies from 26 European countries, including the Czech Republic, carried out a large-scale coordinated operation against international organised crime. The operation was led by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex with support from Interpol. The main focus was on tracking down stolen vehicles and disrupting smuggling activities.
Police officers, customs officials and representatives of other services worked at border crossings and ports. During the checks, more than 150,000 people and nearly 130,000 vehicles were inspected. According to law enforcement, stolen cars are frequently used by criminal groups to transport drugs, cash and weapons.
As a result of the operation, 334 suspects were detained. Authorities seized 710 vehicles and more than 7.4 tonnes of cocaine. In addition, 34 vessels, around 2.4 tonnes of marijuana and more than 10.6 million cigarettes were confiscated. Officers also discovered forged documents, firearms, ammunition and cash in various currencies.
During the operation, specific successful cases of recovering stolen vehicles were recorded. German and Polish officers jointly located a car stolen in Germany near Warsaw. Serbian and Croatian services detained a vehicle stolen in France that was being transported to Serbia.
A significant number of European Union member states, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia, took part in the checks. Other participants included Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Switzerland. The figures published by Frontex reflect the overall results of all countries involved. No separate data on arrests or seizures specifically on Czech territory has been provided, although Czech law enforcement continues to investigate individual cases related to the international transportation of drugs.
During the checks, authorities also identified 2,202 people who lacked the necessary documents or the right to stay. This figure is listed separately from the 334 detained suspects: a violation of migration rules does not in itself indicate involvement in organised crime.
