More than 40 people were arrested in an international sting to bring down a £90 million ($120m) cocaine gang.
Two people were arrested in Dubai as part of the operation, which involved more than 180 raids around the world.
More than 1,000 police officers took part in the raids, in which 45 people were arrested. There were also 70 high-performance cars and 37 planes seized.
The investigation discovered the trafficking network was responsible for the annual import of at least 45 tonnes of cocaine into European seaports, with profits exceeding £90m over the course of six months.
Crime agency Europol said the international sting was carried out simultaneously by agencies from three continents, led by the Portuguese, Belgian and Brazilian authorities, Dubai Police Force and Dubai State Security.
In Brazil, 38 people were arrested, as well as four in Belgium, one in Spain and two in Dubai.
Officers seized more than €12m ($14.4m) in cash in Portugal, €300 000 in Belgium and $359,000 in Brazil.
Luxury vehicles were seized in Brazil, Belgium and Spain, with 37 aircraft confiscated in Brazil.
More than 160 properties in Brazil worth about $24.5m, two in Spain worth €4m and two apartments in Portugal worth €2.5m were seized. The financial assets of 10 individuals in Spain were also frozen.
"This operation highlights the complex structure and vast reach of Brazilian organised crime groups in Europe," said Europol’s deputy director Wil van Gemert.
"The scale of the challenge faced today by police worldwide calls for a co-ordinated approach to tackle the drug trade across continents.
"The commitment of our partner countries to work via Europol underpinned the success of this operation and serves as a continued global call to action."
The network came to light after Europol received "reliable intelligence" concerning the drug trafficking and money laundering activities of a Brazilian organised crime network operating in several EU countries.
The criminal syndicate had direct contact with drug cartels in Brazil and other South American countries, which were responsible for the preparation and shipments of cocaine in maritime containers bound for major European seaports.
"The scale of cocaine importation from Brazil to Europe under their control and command is massive and over 52 tonnes of cocaine were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigation," Europol said.
"In April 2020, Europol brought together the involved countries who have since been working closely together to establish a joint strategy to bring down the whole network. The main targets were identified on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.
“Since then, Europol has provided continuous intelligence development and analysis to support the field investigators."
A key breakthrough came when the authorities cracked an encrypted phone network widely used by criminal networks, called EncroChat.
The breakthrough allowed officers to intercept, share and analyse messages exchanged by criminals to plan serious crimes.
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
