The criminals closely monitored the location and status of their shipments

Jun 18, 2013 15:22 GMT  ·  By

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service has revealed that authorities have disrupted the activities of a drug trafficking ring that relied on hackers to breach the systems of shipping companies in an effort to facilitate smuggling.

According to authorities, the gang hacked the websites of two major container terminals in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, so that they could track the location and movement of their drugs.

In addition, they breached the systems of shipping companies with the aid of spear phishing emails. The malicious emails contained keyloggers that helped the crooks gather information from the targets.

Expatica reports that the hackers helped the smugglers determine where the drugs were so that they could send their drivers to pick up the containers.

In Belgium, authorities raided several locations and arrested a number of suspects, including two individuals believed to be responsible for the hacking part of the operation. Record-breaking amounts of cocaine were seized back in March as part of the investigation.

In the Netherlands, seven suspects were arrested, and 23 homes and office buildings were searched. Computers, records, cash, firearms and bulletproof vests were seized.