The transport had an estimated market value of 450 million euros ($ 525 million). (Representative)
Brussels:
Belgian police seized 11.5 tonnes of pure cocaine hidden in a junkyard container in the largest transport ever in the country, prosecutors said Thursday,
The discovery was made on Oct. 27 in the port of Antwerp, when five containers of South American scrap metal were subjected to a thorough inspection, according to a statement.
The transport had an estimated market value of 450 million euros ($ 525 million), he said.
Antwerp is the second largest freight port in Europe after Rotterdam, but it is the first gateway for cocaine to the continent, thanks to its close trade links with South America.
Investigators said the containers initially landed at the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and were later transferred by barge to the port of Antwerp.
The cocaine was concealed in a smaller steel container which was inserted into a larger container.
The final destination was a company located just across the Dutch border, they said.
After searches in Belgium and the Netherlands, three people were arrested, two in Belgium and one in the Netherlands.
The case is linked to a needle-stick operation in September and October in which 22 suspects are still being held and three million euros in cash were seized.
Among those arrested were a former head of the gendarmerie and three active police officers.
The city of Antwerp and the neighboring province of Limburg have been hit by a wave of drug-related crime, including hostage-taking, grenade attacks and murders.
Besides cocaine, Limburg is also known to host secret laboratories producing synthetic drugs for gangs based mainly across the border in the Netherlands.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
