German customs officials at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven have made one of the largest cocaine seizures in recent years.
More than 8 tons of drugs, with an estimated market value of around 500 million euros ($581 million), were seized, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Aurich Public Prosecutor's Office and the General Directorate of Customs in Cologne.
The discovery at the Jade-Weser port was made on February 9 and has been kept secret until now for tactical reasons, writes Yahoo .
Thanks to subsequent international cooperation, two suspected ringleaders were arrested by Spanish authorities in mid-May during a staged delivery of a container in the Spanish province of Almeria. One of the accused is the managing director of an import company.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil praised the success of the investigation. "Eight tons of cocaine in a single seizure - this is a major blow to international drug trafficking," Klingbeil said.
He thanked the investigators and announced that he will soon present to the cabinet the Law on Customs Financial Justice, which aims to equip customs with new technical and legal tools in the fight against organized crime.
According to customs and the public prosecution, the drugs were found in a shipping container from West Africa, which according to the shipping documents was loaded with cocoa beans and was destined for Spain.
During an X-ray scan, the inspection unit at the Oldenburg Central Customs Office had noticed irregularities, after which officers discovered over 400 packages wrapped in black foil.
Each package contained around 20 tightly packed blocks of cocaine. To prevent any violent attempts by criminals to recover the drugs, the narcotics were destroyed in Germany under strict security measures.
The perpetrators had also placed GPS transmitters in the packages to monitor the location of the cargo at all times. /Telegraph/
