Spain: 228 kg of cocaine hidden inside a banana shipment
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Interceptados/Sagunto/228/kilos/cocaina/ocultos/cargamento/platanos/elpepuesp/20091215elpepunac_8/Tes
The drugs came from Ecuador under the cover of several fruit importing businesses from Murcia.
Drug traffickers have found yet another way to camouflage drugs and trick police controls: to hide it in fruit shipments.
Authorities have seized 228 kg of cocaine hidden among a cargo of bananas in the port of Sagunto, in Valencia, and dismantled the group responsible for the smuggling by arresting its 12 members in Murcia, Malaga and Segovia. The drug originated from Ecuador under the cover of several fruit importing businesses from Murcia.
Photo: El Pais
Colombian authorities set the alert upon verifying the existence of an organized group composed of colombians and spaniards residing in Murcia, who were tied to the drug trafficking business. Containers with several kinds of legal load with camouflaged cocaine inside were often shipped to Spain.
During the last two months they even sent four containers with legal cargo under the name of the same company so they could check if the movements drew the attention of the spanish border police. (…)
The cocaine left from Guayaquil (Ecuador) to the port of Sagunto (Valencia) loaded in a ship of Panamanian flag. The agents intercepted the shipment upon their arrival in Spain and they found the drug hidden among a cargo of bananas.
At the same time agents set up an coordinated operation in Murcia, Malaga, Alicante and San Rafael (Segovia), which culminated with the arrest of the totality of the organization, 12 people.
This was a joint investigation developed by agents of the Criminal Police and of the Tax Services authorities.
December 15, 2009
Translated by FLARE Communication and Information department
