Cocaine stashed in Bananas busted in Thessaloniki

Greek authorities have seized another major shipment of cocaine hidden in a container bringing bananas from Latin America to the northern port of Thessaloniki.

According to a police announcement on Saturday, officers of the drug enforcement unit found 161 kilograms of the illegal drug in packages that had been stuffed into hidden compartments in the shipping container. The haul is estimated to have a street value of at least 3.2 million euros.

The operation to find the drugs is connected to a similar haul of more than 100 kilograms of cocaine that was intercepted in early May, also at Thessaloniki port and again in a shipment of bananas from Latin America.

That operation led to the arrest of 10 suspects in Greece and another four in North Macedonia, who are believed to be part of an international drug smuggling racket.

Both operations were run by the Greek authorities in cooperation with the American Drug Enforcement Agency bureau in Athens and with their counterparts in North Macedonia.