Cocaine Discovered Inside Ships Originating From Panama and Ecuador by UK and Turkey Authorities

Two separate banana shipments from South America were discovered to be hiding tons of cocaine in Europe. Authorities in the UK and Turkey found banana shipments from Panama and Ecuador were found to have some cocaine hidden inside.

According to the BBC, a ship that was registered in Panama and carrying bananas docked in Sheerness, Kent in England. The shipment of cocaine was hidden inside four large holdalls in the sea chest, which is an intake area for seawater to assist stability in ships.

The ship was on its way to the Netherlands to deliver the bananas but stopped by Kent, where the drugs were discovered hidden inside. The UK's National Crime Agency revealed that the cocaine shipment weighed in at 137kg or 302lbs. Its street value was likely worth around £10 million, which is around $12,112,400.

The Panama-based vessel was searched in Sheerness Port last October 14, with the Metropolitan Police Dive Unit taking approximately five hours to recover the drugs after an underwater search of the ship's hull. It took longer than expected because of reduced visibility.

Drug smugglers have been employing even more sophisticated ways to hide drugs in these ships, though such discoveries remain rare, noted NCA operations manager David Phillips, who said that it was an "extremely rare and sophisticated concealment."

The operation was done not just by authorities in the UK, but also by the destination country of the Netherlands and the source country of Panama.

Turkey Also Discovers Cocaine Inside Banana Shipment, This Time From Ecuador

While the UK discovered cocaine hidden inside a shipment of bananas from Panama, Ecuador found the same, this time in a banana shipment from Ecuador.

Turking Minute reported that authorities in Turkey managed to seize 610 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador, according to Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The cocaine shipment was reportedly discovered in the southern province of Mersin.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reiterated his pledge to crack down on drug traffickers all over Turkey after replacing Süleyman Soylu, who had been accused of being involved in international drug trafficking and being connected to Turkish mob boss Sedat Peker.

Banana Shipments Being Used To Hide Cocaine Shipments to Europe Nothing New

The incidents in Turkey and the UK are not the first time that smugglers used legitimate banana shipments to hide illicit drugs, as Europol reported.

Back in June, Spanish and Latvian authorities worked together with the Colombian National Police in a massive operation that searched for hidden drugs. Around eight locations were searched in Spain, around Cadiz and Malaga. It led to 13 arrests and around 6.5 tons of cocaine being confiscated.

A criminal network is said to be behind these shipments that come not just from Colombia but also Ecuador. This criminal network is said to have also been involved in attempts to corrupt public officials. Over in Colombia, local police have managed to seize 3 tons of cocaine before it even left for Europe last May.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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