Banana shipment hiding 1,200 kilos of cocaine found at Vlissingen port

Authorities working at the port in Vlissingen discovered roughly 1,200 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were discovered hidden in a banana shipment that was delivered to a company based at the port, police said.

A criminal investigation was launched after the contraband was found on Tuesday afternoon. No arrests were announced in the case. “The drugs have since been removed and destroyed,” police said.

Banana shipments have been a frequent cover for cocaine traffickers in the Netherlands this year.

These cases include 1,550 kilograms of cocaine in two shipments to Vlissingen via Rotterdam this past October, a 186 kilo discovery in a sea container in Rotterdam, and another 720 kilograms of the drug was found neatly packaged in Rotterdam this past June.

Rotterdam authorities also found 1,300 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a banana pulp shipment in August. Meanwhile, Dutch and Belgian authorities also teamed up to arrest 14 people when they found 1,500 kilos hidden in bananas in March.