Costa Rica seizes five tons of cocaine bound for Holland in largest ever drug bust

Listen to this article:

A police officer is seen in front of packages containing cocaine seized during an operation in the Caribbean, as Michael Soto, Minister of Public Security, speaks to the media at the air base of the Ministry of Security in Alajuela, Costa Rica, February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate

SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Police in Costa Rica seized more than 5 tons of cocaine bound for the Dutch port of Rotterdam in the country’s largest-ever drugs bust, officials said.

The authorities on Saturday found the cocaine in Costa Rica’s Caribbean port of Limon, stashed inside a shipping container of decorative canopy plants bound for the Netherlands.

The anti-narcotics police discovered the drugs in 202 small bags and said the cocaine was produced in South America, though did not specify where.

The drugs had an estimated street value of about 126 million euro ($136 million) in Holland, Costa Rica’s Security Minister Michael Soto said late on Saturday.

“It’s a historic seizure,” Soto said in a statement. “It is a blow to the regional criminal structures.”

A Costa Rican man, who drove the shipment from north of the country to Limon port, was detained, authorities said.

Array
(
    [post_type] => post
    [post_status] => publish
    [orderby] => date
    [order] => DESC
    [update_post_term_cache] => 
    [update_post_meta_cache] => 
    [cache_results] => 
    [category__in] => 1
    [posts_per_page] => 4
    [offset] => 0
    [no_found_rows] => 1
    [date_query] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [after] => Array
                        (
                            [year] => 2023
                            [month] => 12
                            [day] => 29
                        )

                    [inclusive] => 1
                )

        )

)

No Posts found for specific category