The drug was hidden in containers of bananas, cocoa beans, and cement.
Dutch customs seized more than 1.6 tons of cocaine from Ecuador, hidden in containers of bananas, cocoa beans and cement, in the port of Rotterdam, the prosecution announced on Wednesday.
The drug, with a estimated street value of 127 million euros (143 million dollars), was hidden in three containers of goods that arrived at what is the largest port in Europe.
“The first container came from Ecuador and was loaded with bananas destined for a company in Barendrecht,” outside Rotterdam, prosecutors said.
“The drug in the second container was found in a load of cocoa beans, also from Ecuador but that had been shipped through Colombia and then it came through Antwerp ”, they explain in a statement.
A third container loaded with cement bound for Portugal contained five sports bags filled with cocaine.
Drug seizures have soared this year in the port of Rotterdam, considered a major gateway to Europe for drugs, particularly cocaine.
Dutch customs authorities said Tuesday that in 2021 a record 68 tons of that substance, compared to 49 tons the previous year.
The European Union police agency (Europol) warned that the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium are becoming major distribution centers for this drug, especially from Colombia.
The coast of North Sea “It has overtaken the Iberian peninsula as the main point of entry” into Europe, Europol said in a report, published in September.
After cannabis, cocaine is the second most popular drug in Western and Central Europe, with some 4.4 million users last year, according to the same report. (I)
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
