Czech police charge 58 with drug trafficking to Australia, New Zealand

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech police have charged 58 people with helping an international gang to smuggle large amounts of cocaine and heroin worth $90 million to Australia and New Zealand, the police said on Friday.

The gang, operating on four continents, hired couriers in the Czech Republic to transport drugs valued at 2.1 billion crowns from "countries close to production areas", the police said.

Czech law enforcement officials cooperated with their colleagues from the United States and Australia in the operation. In Australia, four couriers have been arrested and received jail sentences ranging from seven to nine years.

($1 = 23.1270 Czech crowns)

(Reporting by Robert Muller, Editing by Timothy Heritage)