Operation ATLAS NEXUS, led by the Belgian Federal Police and jointly coordinated by EMPACT MTCNI (Operational Action 6.1), Frontex, and CARICOM IMPACS, with the support of EL PACCTO 2.0, has identified and dismantled dozens of transnational criminal networks across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe.
The operation targeted five priority criminal markets—drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, document fraud, firearms trafficking, and environmental crime—and resulted in the seizure of 37.6 tonnes of cocaine, 118.6 tonnes of cannabis, 201 firearms, 3,131 units of ammunition and explosives, 803 wild and farm animals, and assets including properties, jewelry, and cryptocurrencies. 18 victims were rescued and assisted.
Beyond the figures, the most significant outcome lies in the number of criminal structures dismantled. Among them, the first cocaine processing laboratory ever detected in Ireland and two illegal gold mining sites in French Guiana.
More than 8,680 officers and judicial authorities took part in national operational actions, alongside AMERIPOL – Comunidad de Policías de América, Europol, INTERPOL, Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (Narcotics) – MAOC (N) and the Regional Security System.
Faced with organizations operating across continents, intercepting shipments is not enough. The aim is to dismantle the structures that make them possible.