Romania breaks up alleged €25m illegal logging ring

Security forces launch raids linked to deforestation in the Carpathian mountains, home to some of Europe's last virgin forest

Romania's security forces have mounted a series of raids to break up an alleged a25m illegal logging ring, in what is believed to be the largest operation of its kind yet seen in Europe.

Officers from Romania's Directorate for Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) swooped on 23 addresses - including factories owned by the Austrian timber group Schweighofer Holzindustrie, according to local press reports.