Customs seize roughly €16 million worth of cocaine hidden in fake avocados

Customs officials intercepted 633 kilograms of cocaine over the Easter weekend at the Port of Rotterdam, with traffickers using fake avocados to conceal the drugs, the Public Prosecution Service reported. The seized cocaine is reportedly valued at around 16 million euros.

The first shipment was discovered during a routine customs inspection on the night of April 21, where officials found the drugs hidden in bags within stacks of real avocados. The container, originating in Peru, had transited through Panama before arriving in the Netherlands.

The second discovery occurred a few days earlier, on April 19, at a company in Barendrecht, a city near Rotterdam. Customs agents uncovered 80 kilograms of cocaine inside fake plastic avocados. The narcotics were discovered after one of the counterfeit avocados fell to the ground and broke open. In total, officials found 400 fake avocados containing the drugs.

Both shipments have been destroyed, and the investigation is ongoing, led by the HARC team, which includes customs, FIOD, the Harbor Police, and the Public Prosecution Service.