Germany nets record 3.8-tonne cocaine haul
The shipments in March and April were found in containers from Paraguay while a third load of 788kg of cocaine came from Uruguay.
Special unit customs officers stand next to a pallets with cocaine packets during a press conference on July 20, 2017 in Hamburg. 3,8 tons of cocaine with a value of 800 million euro is the largest cocaine confiscation in Germany, said the customs investigation office. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Christian Charisius / Germany OUT
Customs officials in Germany said Thursday they had seized a record haul of cocaine in the northern port city of Hamburg, smuggled from South America in shipping containers.
In three sweeps between late March and early May, officers confiscated a total of 3.8 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of 800 million euros (920 million), the federal customs office said in a statement.
“The around 1.5 tonnes in March and 1.6 tonnes in April were the largest individual amounts ever seized in Germany,” it said.
“That confirms a trend — customs officials continue to seize ever greater amounts of cocaine at German ports.”
The shipments in March and April were found in containers from Paraguay while a third load of 788 kilogrammes of cocaine came from Uruguay.
In each case, the narcotics were wrapped in packages and stuffed in gym bags and then hidden behind the doors of the containers.
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, is a highly lucrative market for cocaine traffickers, posing a major challenge to customs authorities working to intercept illegal drugs.
In 2014 and 2015, huge hauls of the drug repeatedly turned up in boxes of bananas at Aldi supermarkets in and around Berlin.
