By Jake Lapham, BBC, Dec. 7, 2024
Authorities in the Dominican Republican say cocaine discovered in the country's largest-ever seizure was headed to Europe.
Hidden in a banana shipment, officials found 9,500kg of the drug at a port in the capital, Santo Domingo.
The cocaine was hidden in 320 bags with an estimated street value of $250 million (£196 million).
At least 10 people linked to the port are under investigation with early investigations showing the bananas had arrived from Guatemala, according to the National Drug Control Directorate.
Communications chief Carlos Denvers said: "Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium."
The haul far exceeds the 2,580kg seizure made by Dominican authorities at the same port in 2006.
Monitoring agencies have reported that the Caribbean is resurfacing as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.
Posted Dec. 18, 2024