Six men have been arrested in the Netherlands following an investigation into a major heroin smuggling ring from Asia to England.

The six, arrested on October 31 and aged between 27 and 40, have been remanded in custody by a court in Den Bosch. They are also suspected of laundering millions of euros.

In total, 13 homes and business premises were raided in Amersfoort, Amsterdam and across Noord-Holland at the time the arrests were made.

Police seized a gun and ammunition, drugs equipment and a considerable amount of cash and crypto currency during the raids. They also sequestered three properties and a Range Rover vehicle.

The investigation began in 2022 and was triggered by information gleaned from the now defunct encrypted communication platform Sky-ECC, police said.

“The suspects transpired to have been involved in smuggling nearly 8 tonnes of cocaine into the Netherlands from Antwerp. The criminal organisation they were involved with used locations to stash drugs in Zaandam where hashish and heroin had been found earlier,” police said.

“The English market for heroin is much bigger than the Dutch one, but the Netherlands is a transit country. Kilos of cocaine, heroin and ketamine were regularly smuggled to England… and each transport could earn between €1.5 million and €2 million.”

The suspects are also suspected of moving cash to the Canary Islands where some was whitewashed by buying gold.