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Spain seizes 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador: officials

World

Spain seizes 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador: officials

By Agence France-Presse

MADRID, Spain - Spanish police and customs officials on Friday announced the seizure of nearly 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador, saying it marked Spain's biggest seizure to date.

33TJ4PK-Preview_W (1).jpg — Spanish National Police and Customs officers hold some packages of cocaine totalizing 9,436 kilos, that were found hidden in a container from Ecuador, are seen during a police press conference at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, on August 25, 2023. Spanish police and customs officials today announced the seizure of nearly 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador, saying it marked Spain's biggest seizure to date. The seizure, which took place on August 23 in the southern port of Algeciras, is "the biggest cargo of cocaine in Spain to date" and was hidden in a refrigerated container coming from Ecuador among banana crates, according to a joint statement.
(Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

The seizure, which took place on Wednesday in the southern port of Algeciras, is "the biggest concealed cargo of cocaine in Spain to date", they said in a joint statement.

The find was hidden in banana crates in a refrigerated container, they added.

The operation is "an unprecedented blow for one of the biggest criminal organisations at world level in cocaine distribution", they said, without idenitifying the organisation.

Its recipients were meant to be the main criminal networks in Europe, they added.

The logos of more than 30 European criminal groups who had been destined to take delivery of the cargo were found inside.

The organisation which undertook the transport was able to send 40 containers a month to Europe thanks to a vast commercial network and also used the northwestern port of Vigo, the officials said.

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