Hamburg customs officers seized more than half a ton of cocaine hidden in a cargo of bananas on a ship from Ecuador. Four people were detained. This was reported by hessenschau, according to UNN.
Details
During the inspection on January 4, customs officers found 520 packages of a narcotic substance among boxes of bananas in a container that was heading to a shipping company in Frankfurt, according to the German Customs Service.
Subsequently, investigators detained four men aged 36 to 67 years old suspected of smuggling.
Hamburg Customs and the Cologne Prosecutor's Office were also involved in the operation.
The drugs were reportedly discovered on January 4 in a container of bananas from Ecuador. Since the cargo was addressed to a company in Frankfurt, the customs department took over the investigation.
More than EUR 30 thousand in cash was seized
On January 11, four suspects from Cologne, Leverkusen, Wuppertal (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Hamburg were arrested. They are accused of, among other things, drug trafficking. More than 30 thousand euros in cash was seized during the searches.
The Hamburg District Court issued an arrest warrant for the accused. They are in custody.