Spain seizes record 9.5 tonnes of cocaine
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Spain has seized its largest-ever cocaine haul after 9.5 tonnes of the Class A drug worth an estimated €2.5bn were found hidden in crates of bananas .
The seizure was made in a shipping container which had come from Ecuador to the southern Spanish port of Algeciras. Police say the cocaine was destined for more than 30 of Europe’s criminal gangs, based on the number of different logotypes on the consignment.
Spain's previous record seizure was in 2018, when just over eight and a half tonnes of cocaine were discovered at the same port of Algeciras, also in a shipping container used to transport bananas, with the drug hidden inside. That time, the consignment came from Colombia.
Confirming the record find, a spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “National Police officers, in a joint operation with Spanish customs officers, have made the largest seizure ever of cocaine in Spain.
“Nearly 9.5 tonnes of the drug were found in a refrigerated shipping container from Ecuador hidden among 1,080 crates of bananas.
“The criminal organisation responsible for supplying the cocaine to the most powerful European network had an extensive business network supplying shipping containers from Ecuador to Spain.
“This operation is an unprecedented blow to one of the most important organisations in the world in the distribution of cocaine, whose recipients were the main criminal networks of Europe.”
Police have not yet named some of the gangs they understood were due to receive the drugs, but the massive seizure will inevitably lead to speculation they included the Kinahan crime cartel.
Speaking to the earlier this week, Garda Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly said said the Kinahan cartel was no longer the dominant force[/urrl] it was as a result of successive investigations by Irish, British, Spanish and US authorities, including the six-figure bounty put out by American agencies in April last year leading to the apprehension of the cartel leaders.
But Mr Kelly also admitted there were “significant elements” of the cartel structure in Ireland and in Dubai, and it would be naive to think “they’re out of business”.
Officially, police are refusing to put a value on the 9.5 tonne drug seizure, but well-placed sources admitted on Friday it could have fetched about €2.5bn on the streets based on the cocaine’s purity and the increase in black market prices in recent years.
No arrests have been made but the investigation is ongoing.