NEW YORK (AP) – An international heroin-smuggling organisation was shattered with the arrests of 56 people in Colombia and the United States after a drug probe that was unique in its reach and success, authorities said Wednesday.

John P Gilbride, special agent in charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in New York, said the US$25 million (euro19.8 million) worth of heroin seized was the largest confiscation during a probe of a single drug organisation in New York City history.

He said authorities shut down a heroin organisation that “operated from the darkened jungles of Colombia to the bright lights of New York City,” smuggling tens of millions of dollars of heroin in sandals, luggage, golf bags and furniture.

The arrests, he said, were also a way to honour nine members of an elite anti-drug police force in Colombia who worked on the case before they were killed May 22.

Colombian authorities have said they were killed by the military at the behest of drug dealers.

US Attorney Michael Garcia said the investigation that started in summer 2004 was unique because authorities had never before rooted out an organisation so completely, from the heroin producers in Colombia to the drug dealers on New York streets.

He said the probe produced a “new model” for drug investigations.

“This is a significant blow to heroin trafficking in this area,” he said, citing the more than 250 pounds (112.5 kilogrammes) of heroin seized and the arrests throughout the drug organisation’s pipeline.

“You have to say this hurts,” he said.

Garcia said 30 people were arrested Wednesday, including nine of the organisation’s leaders in Colombia, and that 26 others had been arrested previously on indictments and criminal complaints that were initially sealed. Arrests also occurred in Florida.

The prosecutor said the nine leaders of the organisation arrested in Colombia would be tried in the United States, while 12 others arrested in Colombia would face trial there.