Authorities in the Dominican Republic said the cocaine discovered in the country's largest ever seizure was destined for Europe.
Officials found 9,500 kilograms of drugs hidden in a banana shipment at a port in the capital, Santo Domingo.
The cocaine was hidden in 320 bags with an estimated street value of $250 million (£196 million).
At least 10 people linked to the port are being investigated, with initial investigations showing that the bananas arrived from Guatemala, according to the National Drug Control Directorate.
“Several unknown people tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a ship to Belgium,” said head of communications Carlos Denfers.
This quantity far exceeds the quantity seized by the Dominican authorities in the same port in 2006, which was 2,580 kilograms.
Monitoring agencies report that the Caribbean is re-emerging as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.
A Last year's report It found that cocaine use is increasing in several Western European countries including the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Spain.
Europe accounted for 21% of the world's cocaine users in 2020, according to a new report United Nations report.
Evidence suggests that use of the drug brings… Serious health consequencesRecent data suggests that deaths from drug poisoning in England and Wales have reached their highest level in thirty years, driven by a 30% rise in deaths caused by cocaine.
