745 kg of cocaine found in fresh pineapples

Police in Portugal and Spain said they seized hundreds of kilograms of cocaine hidden inside fresh fruit earlier this week.

The seizure by authorities was part of an ongoing joint investigation from both countries into drug trafficking from South America via shipping containers. The investigation started in April 2017, police reported on Wednesday.

Reuters reports that 745kg (1,642 pounds) of the drug were seized alongside the arrests of nine gang members. A laboratory for cutting the drug was also dismantled by authorities.

The drugs had been hidden inside fresh fruit transported by shipping containers, in cylinders of yellow wax covered by fresh pineapple hide.

Portuguese investigators said in a statement:

This organised international group had repeatedly brought large quantities of cocaine to the European continent.

Police records reportedly showed that two hydraulic presses, three packaging machines and over 400,000 euros in cash were seized in the raids.

RTEreports the gang members, led by two Colombian brothers, had laboratories in the Spanish municipalities of Pinto and Nuevo Baztan, near Madrid.

HT Reuters

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