Brazilian authorities said today they had smashed a ring of narcotraffickers said to have shipped drugs hidden in frozen fish to Europe.
Eleven members of the drug and money laundering network, based in Brazil and with connections in Colombia and Portugal, were arrested between last Friday and today and USD 5 million worth of goods seized, prosecutors said.
Among those held was Colombian Alexander Pareja, a Rio resident accused of laundering drug money to buy property, gasoline stations and a construction company.
Another key suspect nabbed was Henry Alejandro Rodriguez Gallego, Pareja's brother-in-law who was accused of belonging to a narcotrafficking ring that sent at least two shipments of cocaine to Portugal, hidden in fish and ice.
"We tracked the ring for eight months," police inspector Paulo Teles told reporters.
Narcotics police agents from Spain, the United States, Portugal, Colombia Uruguay assisted in the investigation that led to the arrests.
Police last Friday also arrested a suspected Colombian narcotrafficker who landed at Rio international airport bearing false documents. Press reports identified him as John Freddy Manco Torres, known as "the Indian".
