Spain finds record 9.5 tonnes of cocaine hidden in banana freight from Ecuador

Spanish customs agents and the National Police said on Friday that they had confiscated the country’s biggest cocaine haul to date of 9.5 tonnes hidden in a banana freight container originating from Ecuador.

The drug was found on Wednesday in the southwestern port of Algeciras in a refrigerated container among a cargo shipment supposed to have held 1,080 boxes of bananas, said José Carlos Arobes, a senior official for the Spanish tax agency that covers customs inspections.

Prior to this seizure, Spain’s biggest cocaine bust was of 8.4 tonnes in 2018, also found in a supposed banana container in Algeciras.

The tax agency said the investigations began in July when police received information about a pending shipment of Colombian cocaine via Ecuador in August. The organisation behind the shipment operated through a banana exporting company in Machala, Ecuador, the agency said.

The cargo was due to be delivered in Portugal for later distribution throughout Europe. No arrests have been made so far.

🚩Histórica operación antidroga en el Puerto de #Algeciras

🔵El mayor alijo de #cocaína intervenido nunca en España

🔵9,5 toneladas ocultas en cajas de bananas dentro de un contenedor marítimo procedente de #Ecuador #SomosTuPolicía pic.twitter.com/NrClE0Q0GZ
— Policía Nacional (@policia) August 25, 2023