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Police smash global drug ring: Swiss prosecutor

A two-year police operation has brought down an international drug ring, with authorities in a number of countries seizing 45 kilos of cocaine and arresting 15 people, a Swiss prosecutor's office said Thursday.

"The probe showed that this big organization, made up mainly of Tanzanian traffickers, was providing Europe, Britain, Switzerland and Turkey with cocaine from Argentina and Brazil," the top prosecutor's office in the canton of Geneva said in a statement.

Geneva airport police had since October 2010 worked with police in other Swiss cantons, as well as in Belgium, Canada, Portugal, the Netherlands, Argentina and Brazil to track down the traffickers, the statement said.

Nine kilos (20 pounds) of cocaine had been seized in Geneva, 24 in Argentina, seven in Brazil, 2.5 kilos in Belgium and 2.5 kilos in Portugal.

"Basically all of the drugs seized abroad were destined for Switzerland," the Geneva prosecution said.

In all, 15 drug traffickers were arrested around the world, including seven people in Geneva.

During the investigation, police pinpointed one of the heads of the ring, in Argentina. He was arrested a year ago, and they also caught up with the trafficking coordinator working out of Britain last April.

Police also uncovered important buyers in the Netherlands and Switzerland, and had intercepted a mule-recruiter based in Switzerland along with several mules, or transporters.

Geneva police however pointed out that a lot of drugs had made it to their destination.

"This long investigation has made it possible to determine that the ring has imported at least 90 kilos of cocaine to Switzerland, in addition to the seized (drugs)," the police said in a separate statement, adding that the quantity was likely much higher.

A Brazilian police probe had showed that the ring had at times bought between 12 and 15 plane tickets a day from a Sao Paulo travel agent for its mules heading to Europe.

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Danish biotech firm starts human trials for new Covid drug

The Danish biotech company Union Therapeutics has been given the go-ahead to begin clinical trials on humans for its coronavirus medicine which early studies show is more than 40 times more effective than Remdesivir.

Danish biotech firm starts human trials for new Covid drug
Niclosamide is one of hundreds of promising new drugs. Sorrento Therapeutics in San Diego, California, is working on an antibody drug. Reuters/Scanpix/Bing Guan
Dr Rasmus Toft-Kehler, chief executive and co-founder of the company, credited the “amazing period” that saw the medicine rushed through preliminary trials. 
 
“The team, including all stakeholders, partners… and not least regulatory authorities, have acted with passion and in concert to advance UNI911 at an incredible pace,” he said in a press statement.
 
“We are honoured to be part of this venture and excited to be at the cusp of initiating clinical studies with the ultimate goal of making a differentiated product available for patients in need”.
 
The drug UNI911, or niclosamide, will be tested at the Zelo Phase I Unit at Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hopsital and at the Center for Physical Activity Research at Rigshospitalet. 
 
“It is a drug that can kill the virus and prevent it from dividing inside the body,” Morten Sommer, a professor at DTU Biosustain and the co-founder of Union, told TV2
 
“Previously, it has been used to treat bowel diseases such as tapeworms, but we have found out how the drug can come out and work elsewhere in the body.” 
 
 
In studies from South Korea, niclosamide has proven 40 times more potent than the drug Remdesivir, which has otherwise been considered the most effective drug for treating Covid-19.
 
Sommer expects the development of the drug to move into the second phase this autumn. 
 
“It is still early in the process, but we think the characteristic we have seen of the drug seem really promising, and if the results continue to come in, we hope that it has great opportunity to contribute to the treatment of both Covid-19 and also other similar diseases.” 
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