(VitalNews.org) – The most prolific drug gangs of Europe have been denied a 9.5 ton delivery of cocaine after Spanish authorities discovered the illegal shipment in a banana container, on Wednesday August 23. Spain’s national police force, working in conjunction with the country’s customs agents, announced the nation’s largest ever cocaine confiscation after searching a refrigerated container that arrived in Algeciras, an important shipping port on the southwest coast of Spain. One of Spain’s senior tax and customs officials, José Carlos Arobes, told reporters that the illegal drugs had been disguised in boxes that should have contained over 1000 bananas.
The cocaine was recovered as part of an investigation that began in July when police received information pertaining to Columbian cocaine being shipped to Europe via Ecuador, with an Ecuadorian banana export company tipped to be used to make the illicit delivery. The banana export company was found to make as many as 40 deliveries each month, with some of those containing illegal drugs. Investigators were reportedly shocked at the scale of drug trafficking operating via this single banana exporter based in Malacha, Ecuador, and kept a close eye on the company’s movements. This enabled investigators to uncover the shipping of 15 containers carrying drugs which were then searched with extra care and detail upon arrival in the Spanish port.
Police were able to tell the press that the logos of 30 different European narcotics gangs were identified in the shipment, and that the cocaine was due to be divided up amongst these drug sellers and sent across the continent. Authorities did not name the suspected organizations involved in the smuggling, nor have any arrests been made so far.
The second largest drugs bust in Spanish history also took place in Algeciras. 8.4 tons of cocaine was found and confiscated in 2018, also in what should have been a shipment of bananas. Spanish authorities have faced a long-running and difficult fight against drugs smuggling in the country, owing in part to its strategically useful position close to Africa and the rest of Europe, as well as its many busy seaports.
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