Anti-smuggling crackdown nets 185

International police agency Interpol says it has arrested 185 people across five countries in Latin America, in a major anti-smuggling operation.

Police seized counterfeit and pirated goods worth more than $115m (£58m), Interpol said, as well as crack cocaine, illegal guns and ammunition.

The three-month-long operation took place in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay last year.

The details were announced as officials from the five nations met in Argentina.

Operation Jupiter was designed to combat the flow of counterfeit goods from South East Asia into Latin America through the ports of Iquique in Chile and Montevideo in Uruguay, Interpol said.

Distribution networks run by organised crime gangs led from those ports through Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru into Brazil and the rest of Latin America, the agency said.

The goods seized included potentially lethal counterfeit medicines, sub-standard electrical products and other pirated goods, Interpol said.

Police also found 2.35kg (5.2lb) of crack cocaine and 973kg (2,145lb) of marijuana.

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