Cocaine shipment worth 32 million euros intercepted in the Canary Islands

A container, with 260 kilos of cocaine hidden in sacks of sugar cane that was in transit from Brazil to Conakry, the main port of Guinea in West Africa, has been intercepted by the Guardia Civil and the Tax Agency in the port of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.

The risk analysis that is usually carried out on this type of traffic from "hot ports" in South America highlighted that this container should be inspected in-depth, according to the Ministry of the Interior in a statement.

Due to this, the Customs and Fiscal Department with the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil transferred the container to the facilities of the Border Inspection Point (PIF) of the Las Palmas port for a thorough inspection of the cargo.

The search of the container revealed a shipment of a large number of bags, weighing about 50 kilos each, had one-kilo ‘blocks’ of cocaine hidden among the sugar cane in them. In total, they found almost 268 kilos of pure cocaine, which when cut would have a street value of over 32 million euros.

An investigation has started into the origin and destination of the drugs by security and border forces in the Canary Islands, Brazil, and Guinea.