Colombia coke bust was bound for Europe

Police in Colombia have intercepted 7 tons of cocaine, with a street value of at least $250 million, headed to the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

The ship came from Costa Rica and was on its way to the southern Dutch port of Vlissingen.

The operation was one of the biggest such busts in Colombia, which is one of the world’s largest producers of cocaine. The country has already seized a total of 25 tons of drugs this year. 

The packages were stamped with logos such as ‘Yamaha’ and ‘KIA’, indicating the different criminal gangs behind the shipment.

The drugs were found stashed in 6,900 tiny packages in a container in the port city of Cartagena, yesterday (Thursday). They were packaged alongside bottles of pineapple conserve. 

Rodolfo Palomino, the head of Colombia’s National Police, said it was the biggest seizure since 15 tons were found along the Pacific coast in 2005.

In a press statement Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said: “Exceptional intelligence work by our public force has made for one of the largest drug seizures in the history of Cartagena, where about seven tons of cocaine were seized, and this destabilizes the finances of criminal organizations.”