A frantic, failed midnight operation ultimately led to the gang's downfall. The indictment reveals a chaotic scene where the traffickers, desperate to recover their illicit cargo, attempted to breach a Swiss transfer terminal on three separate occasions. Their target was a specific container filled with coffee beans, shipped all the way from Brazil via Antwerp. However, the operation was a catastrophic failure from the start. Unbeknownst to the smugglers, the container had already been loaded onto a freight train bound for Romont.
This logistical blunder proved fatal to their plans. While the trio scrambled in the dark at the terminal, their 500kg payload was already en route to the Nespresso factory in the canton of Fribourg. It was there, among the machinery of legitimate industry, that factory workers discovered the white powder, triggering a massive police response. The court noted that the reduced sentenceâdown from a potential 20 yearsâwas only granted because the trio failed to achieve their objective. Their incompetence, however, did not absolve them of the intent to flood Swiss streets with half a ton of Class A drugs.