Italian police have seized 4.3 tons of cocaine with a market value of 240 million euros ($257 million), dealing a major blow to the Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo.

Police said it was one of the largest drug seizures in Europe and came at the conclusion of an international investigation that resulted in arrest warrants for 38 people in six countries: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Colombia. .

The investigation lasted more than a year and involved the Colombian judiciary and the US Department of Homeland Security. The police also confiscated 1.85 million euros in cash along with cocaine.

Colombian authorities said in November they were focusing on eliminating the del Golfo clan, whose network spans 28 countries, following the arrest in October of its leader, Dairo Antonio Osugi, better known as O’Tonel.

Italian investigators in the northeastern city of Trieste described the operation as “another massive blow to Colombia’s most important drug cartel.”