Yzabelle Bostyn
SOME 13 tonnes of cocaine have been found hidden in bananas in southern Spain’s major ‘narco port.’
The Policia Nacional and the Tax Agency Customs Surveillance Service intercepted over 13 tonnes of cocaine in Algeciras yesterday.
It is a record drug bust for Spain, with the previous biggest being 9.4 tonnes.
Imported by a Alicante province business based in El Campello, the shipment came from Ecuador and weighed 13,062 tonnes.
Officers subsequently carried out searches of houses and businesses in El Campello, Playa de San Juan in Alicante and Almoradi in the Vega Baja.
An arrest has also been made in Toledo, but the main players behind the shipment are believed to be the owners of the fruit business based in El Campello and Almoradi.
The man and woman are being pursued by authorities after disappearing following the discovery.
They live in a ‘luxurious’ €700,000 chalet in Algeciras, where police discovered evidence they had fled, including empty safes and missing high end watches.
A multi-platform operation, the bust was carried out with the help of the Campo de Gibraltar Tax Agency Customs Surveillance Service and Special Response Group to Organised Crime (GRECO) in addition to the collaboration of the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) of the General Commissariat of the Judicial Police in Madrid.
Searches also took place yesterday in Alicante and Almoradi, following GRECO’s request.
They were authorised by Algeciras’ number three judge, where the raid was carried out.
The haul arrived in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador imported by Abadix Fruits, whose office was promptly searched.
