• Operation ATLAS NEXUS, coordinated jointly by the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT MTCN, Operational Action 6.1), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, (FRONTEX) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), facilitated by the European Union’s EL PACCTO 2.0 programme, resulted in the identification and dismantling of numerous transnational criminal networks and led to more than 490 people arrested.
• The action impacted on five priority criminal markets - drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, document fraud, firearms trafficking and environmental crime - and resulted in seizures exceeding 156.9 tonnes of drugs, along with 201 weapons, 3131 units of ammunition and explosives, 803 wild animals and livestock, US$135.000 in cash and cryptocurrencies, 0.83 kg of gold, 169 properties, 464 pieces of jewellery, 468 fraudulent documents and 1 vehicle. Furthermore, 18 victims were rescued and attended.
• 35 countries from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions took part, together with regional and international organisations including AMERIPOL, CARICOM IMPACS, EUROPOL, FRONTEX, INTERPOL, MAOC(N) and RSS. Australia, Montenegro, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America played a pivotal role in information and intelligence sharing, as well as in operational actions.

Operation ATLAS NEXUS has led to the identification and dismantling of dozens of transnational criminal networks in a coordinated international action bringing together law enforcement, customs and judicial authorities from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions of the world. In terms of the volume of seizures and the number of countries involved, it is the largest joint operation against organised crime carried out to date between both regions.
Led by the Belgian Federal Police, the operation was coordinated and conducted jointly by Operational Action 6.1 of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) focused on the Most Threatening Criminal Networks and Individuals (MTCNI), FRONTEX and CARICOM IMPACS, facilitated by EL PACCTO 2.0, the European Union's flagship cooperation programme with Latin America and the Caribbean on security and justice, which supported the coordination between the various actors involved on both sides of the Atlantic.

The operation focused on identifying and disrupting polycriminal networks and high-value targets, seize criminal assets and initiate further investigations, across five priority criminal markets: drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, document fraud, firearms trafficking and environmental crime.
Its most significant outcome lies not only in the volume of what was seized – 156,9 tonnes, but in the number of criminal structures identified and dismantled. The more than 490 arrests correspond to the disruption of multiple networks whose routes connect both regions. Faced with organisations operating on an international scale, intercepting shipments is not enough: the aim is to dismantle the structures that make them possible and to deprive them of the resources that sustain them.

Among the actions carried out, particular note should be taken of the identification and dismantling of the first cocaine processing laboratory detected in Ireland, as well as two new illegal gold mining sites in French Guiana. Seizures include 37,6 tonnes of cocaine, 118,6 tonnes of cannabis, 201 firearms, 3131 units of ammunition and explosives, 803 wild animals and livestock, US$135,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies, 0.83 kg of gold, 169 properties, 464 pieces of jewellery, 468 fraudulent documents and 1 vehicle. 37 INTERPOL notices were issued during the operation, 17 of them were red.

A coordinated response between regions

More than 8,680 police officers and justice authorities took part in the various national operational actions to monitor 110 aircraft, 28 vessels, 415 vehicles and 271 containers at 28 designated checkpoints in ports, airports and on roads. A total of 595 search warrants were executed.

Authorities from 35 countries took part in the operation. Among those reporting the most significant results are Australia, Costa Rica, France, Greece, Ireland, Montenegro, Paraguay, Portugal, Suriname and Sweden. Alongside countries from Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina also joined the action. Both the French Armed Forces High Command in the Antilles and FRONTEX made naval assets available for interception operations. Australia played a key role in the seizure of more than 5.6 tonnes of cocaine. As a result, new modi operandi and routes have been identified.

The operation also involved the participation of regional and international organisations - AMERIPOL, CARICOM IMPACS, EUROPOL, FRONTEX, INTERPOL, MAOC(N) and the Regional Security System (RSS) - as well as the collaboration of the European programmes CRIMARIO II and SEACOP VI, and the Italian-funded Interpol I-CAN programme, whose interconnection with West Africa and Asia were important for the operation.

The coordination between this wide range of actors proved decisive in connecting information from different jurisdictions and acting simultaneously against networks operating across several continents. The results build on different criminal profiling meetings organised by EL PACCTO 2.0 and EMPACT MTCNI, and a pre-operational phase co-organised in Panama City in April 2026 by EMPACT MTCNI, FRONTEX, CARICOM IMPACS and EL PACCTO 2.0, which set out the operational plan and the intelligence-led approach that guided the action, followed by preparatory work with all participating countries on the identification of high-value targets and the modi operandi to be targeted.