Another large find of cocaine: Inspectors found 2.6 tons of cocaine behind banana boxes. The container was targeted because of its long service life.
Hamburg – Customs seized 2.6 tons of cocaine in the port of Hamburg. The drug has a black market value of more than 350 million euros, according to customs officials on Thursday.
It was hidden in a container from Ecuador, which according to the shipping documents was supposed to be loaded with bananas. The container had already been unloaded in the port of Hamburg on December 24 and has been at a container terminal ever since.
Fight against organized crime
“With this outstanding seizure of cocaine, customs are once again underlining their important role in the fight against organized crime,” said René Matschke, head of the Hamburg Customs Investigation Office. The head of the main customs office in Hamburg, Christian Schaade, emphasized: “This success is based on a sophisticated risk analysis by customs.”
Due to the long standing time, the container was targeted by customs. At the end of January, an X-ray check was ordered in the container inspection facility in Waltershof. Suspicious structures became visible behind two pallets of bananas. Inspectors eventually found 2630 kilograms of cocaine. The container shipment of bananas was intended for a company in another European country. The further investigations of the customs investigation on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office are ongoing. The find was one of the largest in recent years.
More cocaine finds
Just last week, Hamburg customs investigators discovered around 140 kilograms of cocaine in a shipping container with broccoli. The drug was found in a shipment from South America during a routine inspection. Criminals could have doubled this amount and thus taken in around 17 million euros.
Last year, officers from the Hamburg Customs Investigation Office seized more than 18 tons of cocaine. In February 2021 alone, the investigators found 16 tons in containers from Paraguay. It was the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in Europe, it said.
On Friday, customs in Bremen want to report on another large find of cocaine that officials made in Bremerhaven in January. dpa
