GROWING TREND: The drugs, which were found nestled inside a banana shipment, had been sent from Guatemala and were destined for Belgium
Reuters and AP, SANTO DOMINGO
The Dominican Republic on Friday reported its largest-ever cocaine seizure, saying it found about 9.5 metric tonnes of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment that arrived at a port in Santo Domingo, the capital.
Dominican National Drug Control Directorate’s communications chief Carlos Denvers told a press conference that authorities had discovered 320 bags containing about 9,528kg of cocaine, which they estimated was valued at about US$250 million.
“Early investigations show that a container carrying bananas arrived from Guatemala,” Denvers said.
Agents of the Dominican Republic’s National Drug Control Directorate guard seized bags of drugs in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Friday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium,” he added.
Ten suspects have been detained, he said.
He said it was the country’s largest seizure, topping a 2,580kg seizure in 2006 in Santo Domingo’s Caucedo port, the same port where the latest shipment was discovered.
InSight Crime, a foundation that analyzes organized crime, has warned that record-breaking seizures made this year suggest the Caribbean is resurfacing as a major trafficking route from Colombia to Europe, where consumption is estimated to have more than doubled between 2011 and last year.
“As demand grows, traffickers are ramping up efforts to meet it, turning to the Caribbean as an ideal conduit for smuggling cocaine to Europe,” InSight Crime said in an analysis last month, adding that large Dominican transport hubs provide extensive opportunities to traffickers.
The Dominican Republic is a transit country for the trafficking of drugs from South America into North America and Europe.
Authorities so far this year have seized nearly 47 tonnes of drugs.
