Customs officers at the port of Antwerp last week seized more than eight tonnes of cocaine-a record haul of drugs in Belgium and the Netherlands, and reportedly the second biggest-ever in Europe.
The drugs were hidden in a container transporting bananas from Ecuador and had an estimated street value of Euro 500 million, according to the public prosecutor's office in Antwerp.
The cocaine was in almost 7,000 packs, each weighing just over one kg, and destined for the Dutch market.
Following the discovery of the drugs, the Belgian authorities decided to leave part of the load in the container, allowing it to leave the port by truck and reach its final destination in the Netherlands.
The truck was placed under surveillance as soon as it entered Dutch territory. It was tracked to an industrial park on the outskirts of Rotterdam where police arrested the truck's driver, a 46-year-old Belgian national, and four Dutch nationals who were unloading the container.
A 31-year-old Customs officer at the port of Antwerp is suspected of having aided the drug smuggling gang.
Last week's cocaine bust easily surpassed the previous record for drugs seized at Antwerp, which was three tonnes.
According to a UN report, Europe is the second biggest market for cocaine. 2006 saw seizures in Europe reach a peak of 121 tonnes but this had declined to 57 tonnes by 2009.
The bananas in the container were donated to Rotterdam's Blijdorp Zoo.
|
