Ten kilos cocaine found in banana box

Employees of a distribution company in Gorinchem found about 10 kilograms of cocaine in a box of bananas on Saturday.

The packages of cocaine were in the pockets of a thick black vest, which was hidden in the box. The company transported it from the port of Antwerpen. According to the Rotterdam HARC-team, a collaboration of Customs, Port Police and Fiod, the intention probably was that someone in Antwerpen would exit the port area with the vest. The team assumes that the Gorinchem firm had nothing to do with the smuggling.

The HARC-team is continuing the investigation. The cocaine, worth nearly half a million euros, has been destroyed. An earlier draft of this story identified the location of the incident as "Groningen," and not "Gorinchem." Our apologies for the error. --ed.