George Mathias
POLICE in Palma seized eight kilos of high purity cocaine smuggled into Spain inside packets of Colombian coffee.
The ruse was rumbled when officers posed as buyers in a sting operation after Barcelona customs detected a suspicious shipment of Colombian coffee.
They covertly tracked the import on its way to the Mallorcan town of Sant Joan where they seized the 50 packets of coffee.
Analysis revealed that each packet of coffee contained around 8% of cocaine in total representing one of the largest drugs bust on the island for several years.
Police tracked the criminals giving the narcotics to a resident with initials PCR in Sant Joan.
The drug trafficker was arrested shortly after police witnessed the transfer.
The investigation began in February, when the Barcelona customs risk analysis unit detected a suspicious shipment apparently containing 50 packets of Colombian coffee.
In total, one hundred kilos of goods were en route to the Mallorcan town of Sant Joan.
The Palma guard was informed of the suspicious shipment, and a fake delivery was organised by police to catch the drug trafficker red-handed.
Police covertly analysed the contents of the shipment and determined that the coffee was in fact mixed with cocaine.
Subsequent analysis confirmed that each packet of coffee was made up of around 8% cocaine.
The operation is one of the largest drug busts in Mallorca of recent years.
A few days prior, the National Police also seized cocaine from a vehicle arriving at the port of Palma, arresting an Argentinian man with Spanish citizenship.
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