Belgian police detain 30 in major drug trafficking case

BRUSSELS (AP) — Police in Belgium have detained 30 people during an investigation of a major drug trafficking operation in seven countries. The federal prosecutors office said Tuesday that officers carried out 49 searches across Belgium and about 60 searches took place in Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia and the Netherlands. Belgium has become a major hub trafficking drugs into Europe. Antwerp is one of Europe’s main ports of entry for cocaine from South America. Prosecutors did not say what was seized during the operation. According to Belgian prosecutors, the cracking of an encrypted messaging service helped to identify potential suspects in Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay.