The announcement was made in a press conference at the Police Department on Friday.
“During the operation, the smuggling of very large amounts of narcotic substances to the Republic of Lithuania, as well as to other European Union countries, was prevented. During the operation and investigation, over 1,000 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized. 800 kg of this quantity were seized in the Republic of Lithuania, another 220 kg were seized in Germany,” said Saulius Briginas, deputy head of the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.
According to him, the pre-trial investigation dealt a serious blow to the organised crime and its financial potential.
Briginas says this quantity of drugs in the underground wholesale market is valued around EUR 15 million, while in the underground retail market it is worth EUR 50–70 million.
More than 10 companies were established or acquired to be used as a front for drug smuggling.
The investigation found that drugs smuggled to Lithuania were kept in a warehouse in Kaunas, where they were sorted and prepared for smuggling to other European countries.
Law enforcement conducted the operation in several stages. Last year, on 27 November, officers in Germany seized 220 kg of cocaine. On 5 December 2025, Lithuanian law enforcement seized 330 kg of cocaine. On 22 December, suspects were caught with evidence while sorting and packing drugs. 260 kg of cocaine were seized at the time. Whereas 240 kg of drugs were also seized on 6 January 2026 in Klaipėda seaport in a shipment of scrap metal.
The drugs were discovered in shipments of scrap metal and air conditioners loaded in countries of the Central America, including Costa Rica and Panama.
Director of the Customs Criminal Service, Mantas Kaušilas, said last December drugs were found when the shipment raised officers’ suspicion because the route was completely illogical as Chinese-made air conditioners were shipped from Panama.
More than 60 searches were carried out and 13 suspects, citizens of Lithuania, have been identified.
The suspects are aged between 22 and 42, said Martynas Jovaiša, chief prosecutor at the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Several suspects have been placed under arrest. Some of them were convicted of various crimes in the past.
A pre-trial investigation is ongoing into smuggling and distribution of narcotic substances by an organised group. Organising such crimes is punishable by imprisonment for up to 18 years.