The Dominican Republic authroities have said that cocaine discovered in the country’s largest-ever seizure was en-route to Europe.
Reports from officials further revealed that 9,500kg of the drug was hidden in a banana shipment, discovered a port in the capital city, Santo Domingo.
The cocaine was concealed in 320 bags with an estimated street value of $250 million (£196 million).
So far, only about 10 people linked to the port are under investigation with preliminary findings showing the bananas had arrived from Guatemala, according to the National Drug Control Directorate.
Carlos Denvers, the communications chief had said: “Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium.”
The drug haul far exceeds the 2,580kg seizure made by Dominican authorities at the same port back in 2006 and monitoring agencies have said that the Caribbean is gradually resurfacing as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.
A 2023 report found that the use of cocaine is skyrocketing in several western European countries like t UK, Belgium, France and Spain.
According to a United Nations report, Europe accounted for only 21% of the world’s cocaine users in 2020.
