Dutch customs authorities at the port of Rotterdam have seized a record 8,064 kilograms (17,778 pounds) of cocaine that had been hidden in a container with bananas.
(Bloomberg) — Dutch customs authorities at the port of Rotterdam have seized a record 8,064 kilograms (17,778 pounds) of cocaine that had been hidden in a container with bananas.
The container came from Ecuador via Panama and the drugs had a street value of €600 million ($660 million), the prosecutor’s office in Rotterdam said in a statement on Thursday.
The cocaine was found on July 13 in banana pallets during a check with drug-sniffing dogs and an electronic scan.
The drugs have been destroyed and Dutch authorities are still investigating the case, the prosecutor’s office added. No arrests have been reported.
Read More: Booming Cocaine Trade Brings Violence to a Quiet Dutch Town
European Union countries seized a record 303 tons of cocaine in 2021, according to a report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Most of that arrives in Rotterdam and Antwerp, the two largest ports in Europe, on commercial container ships laden with fruit and vegetables from Latin America.Â
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