The seizure of two mobile phones in a small Swedish town has exposed a criminal architecture stretching across Europe, Asia and Australia. On 4 March, 2026, coordinated actions in Spain, Sweden and Thailand struck key nodes of this network, building on earlier operational activity in Australia.
Forensic analysis of the devices led international law enforcement to multiple, interconnected organised crime networks allegedly involved in large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering.
The scale and structure of the criminal ecosystem only emerged once investigators unlocked the data inside the devices.
Led by Swedish authorities and known as Operation Candy, the investigation began in November, 2023, after Swedish law enforcement seized two mobile phones from an alleged drug trafficker in Sweden.
Forensic analysis of the devices revealed encrypted communications, international contacts and operational details reaching far beyond Sweden.
Specialists at Europol supported Swedish investigators in analysing the data. Police allegedly uncovered multiple criminal networks dealing in synthetic drugs and large-scale money laundering. The groups allegedly shared facilitators and used a sophisticated web of corporate entities to obscure ownership, logistics and financial flows.
Data recovered from the devices exposed how the interconnected networks operated across multiple crime areas and jurisdictions.
- In a Swedish investigation that led to Thailand, network members were allegedly running a large-scale online drug distribution business supplying customers in the Nordic region.
- In Sweden, actors were allegedly managing domestic drug distribution while operating parallel money laundering structures to recycle criminal profits.
- In Germany, 1.2 tonnes of illicit drugs allegedly destined for Australia was intercepted, resulting in the arrests in Victoria of two alleged local distributors.
- In Spain, a high-value target was allegedly facilitating large-scale narcotics trafficking.
On 4 March, 2026, authorities overseas carried out about 20 simultaneous house searches, striking key nodes of the network. These actions were coordinated from command posts at several locations in Europe.
The operation resulted in:
- 13 arrests in Spain, Sweden and Thailand.
- The targeting of multiple high-value criminal figures.
Significant seizures of criminal assets, including large sums of cash, watches, jewellery, vehicles and yachts worth €4 million (Euro), with tracing of more assets to come.
These actions built on operational activity in Australia last year (2025) against two alleged members of an organised criminal syndicate, bringing the total number of arrests to 15.
The Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF), comprising the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police and Australian Border Force (ABF), started an investigation after receiving a referral from German Customs.
German Customs officers detected and seized 1.2 tonnes of illicit drugs destined for Melbourne in February 2025 following a thorough and complex analysisof two shipping containers manifested to contain a product commonly used in the manufacture of roads.
German law enforcement removed the illicit substances before allowing the consignment to be shipped to Australia. When the containers arrived at the Port of Melbourne in April 2025, Australian law enforcement agencies inserted an inert substance into the consignment and then released it for delivery under police surveillance.
The consignment was sent to a warehouse in Victoria's central highlands, before being delivered to a factory in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine. Two men, aged 32 and 52, are currently before the courts in Australia charged for their roles in the alleged importation attempt.
The Acting Deputy Head of the Operations Department of the Swedish Police Authority, Mats Berggren, said that the borderless nature of organized crime was a challenge.
"But we have once again proven that you can't hide behind country borders or digital borders. When we share information and act together as one international system we strike back on organized crime. We want to thank our partners in Germany, Australia, Spain, Thailand, Europol and Eurojust for joining forces with us in this operation," Mr Berggren said.
AFP Commander Christopher Woods said organised crime operated in a borderless environment and the arrests demonstrated the importance of coordinated international action.
"The AFP's role is to combat organised crime impacting Australia's national security and to keep Australians safe; while also sharing intelligence and resources with global partners to support their efforts to protect their communities," Commander Woods said.
"The arrests in Europe and Australia are a direct result of the commitment, tenacity and agility of investigators in multiple countries. The AFP and our partners in the Victorian Joint Organised Crime Taskforce (JOCTF) - Victoria Police and the Australian Border Force - worked closely with counterparts in Europe to prevent an alleged criminal syndicate from sending more than 1.2 tonnes of illicit drugs to Australia and ruthlessly exposing the Victorian community to immeasurable drug harm.
"The success of this operation also brought criminal charges to those we allege were waiting to collect the illicit drugs, and highlights the importance of international and domestic partnerships for crippling the threat posed by organised crime groups - no matter where they operate."
Victoria Police Acting Commander Jason Kelly, Crime Command said the criminal activities of organised crime networks had devastating effects on our financial and health systems.
"Make no mistake: the impact these illicit substances have on human behaviour translates to road trauma, family violence, homicides, fatal shootings and other violent offending intrinsically linked to illicit drug trafficking," said a/Commander Kelly.
"Working with our law enforcement partners to stop this criminal organisation from operating beyond our border means that these illicit drugs will never make it to the suburbs or rural settings of Australia.
"This operation is a perfect example of what law enforcement can achieve when we work together, helping each other disrupt the flow of illicit drugs around the globe and combat the threat of transnational organised crime."
ABF Commander Clint Sims said these strong international partnerships represented world's best practice when it came to disrupting criminal drug syndicates and their business model.
"This collaboration is crucial to staying ahead of criminal syndicates and upholding Australia's border as a hostile environment to the importation of harmful drugs into the community," Commander Sims said.
The Head of Europol's European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, Andy Kraag, said the case showed what organised crime looked like today.
"It started with something small - two mobile phones seized from a trafficker in a small Swedish town. But what investigators found inside was not a local story. It was a global criminal enterprise moving tonnes of drugs across continents, hiding profits behind layers of companies and coordinating through encrypted communications and online marketplaces," Mr Kraag said.
"For more than two years, investigators followed the trail, turning fragments of intelligence into coordinated international action. This operation sends a clear message: criminals may believe they can hide behind technology, borders or complex financial structures. They are wrong."
Eurojust's National Member for Sweden, Erik Fågelsbo, said Operation Candy proved that a united front of law enforcement and prosecutors from across the globe could deal serious blows to criminal networks.
"While criminals are constantly trying to find new ways to hide from the law, we are working together faster and more efficiently to track them down and dismantle their operations," Mr Fågelsbo said.
"Through coordination at Eurojust, judicial authorities from five countries worked closely together to identify the links connecting their national investigations, plan joint actions, and agree on a common prosecutorial strategy. This judicial cooperation not only contributed to arrests around the world but will also be essential to any future prosecutions and trials. Our goal is not only to arrest suspects, but to ensure that justice is ultimately served."
