[WATCH] European police carry out coordinated raids on Ndrangheta mafia in 150 addresses

In one of the largest operations ever carried out in Europe against the Calabrese mafia, law enforcement officials from Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Panama and Romania conducted over 150 raids targeting members of the Ndrangheta on Wednesday.

The raids were carried out as a result of a five-year-long investigation initiated by Belgian prosecutors and conducted under strict secrecy.

Over 1,400 police officers were involved in the raids in Italy, while more than 1,000 officers were involved in Germany alone.

In total, over 30 people were arrested, and dozens of apartments, houses, and offices were searched across several countries. The suspects are accused of money laundering, organized tax evasion, organized fraud, and narcotics smuggling.

Europol described this as the largest hit involving the Italian syndicate to date.

The Ndrangheta is a powerful organized crime syndicate that originated in the Calabria region of Italy. It is considered to be one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in the world, with an estimated annual turnover of more than $50 billion.

The Ndrangheta is known for its involvement in drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, and other illicit activities.

According to Europol, the Italian criminal network was focused on international drug trafficking from South America to Europe, as well as Australia.

The network was working with the Colombian organised crime group 'Gulf Clan' and an Albanian-speaking crime group in Ecuador and multiple European countries.

The Ndrangheta clans were also involved in international firearms trafficking from Pakistan to South America, providing weapons to the notorious criminal group Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). They were doing this in exchange for cocaine shipments.

To launder its profits, the clans created an extensive global money laundering system and invested its profits in real estate, restaurants, hotels, car wash companies, and supermarkets across Europe and South America.