The Russian authorities carried out the largest drug seizure of the year in the country on Wednesday with the discovery of 820 kilos of cocaine from Latin America. The powder was hidden in banana containers.
Russian customs and security services (FSB) ‘found 820 kilograms of cocaine in banana containers’ when they arrived in Russia, customs services on Telegram announced.
This is the seizure of the largest Latin American drug batch this year, whose value on the Russian black market is more than 12 billion rubles’, or around 132 million euros.
The photos published by customs show yellow and brown packages decorated with the logo of a ready-to-wear brand and French luxury cosmetics. The packages filled with white powder were discovered under the banana container floor in ‘a hand -made cavity,’ said the authorities, an expertise later confirming that the 820 bricks contain cocaine.
Contraband
The seizure was carried out after ‘special services received information from foreign colleagues on the intention of a South American criminal organization to establish a cocaine contraband path in Russia,’ said customs.
The authorities did not mention arrests, but said that an investigation is underway.
In December 2024, the FSB announced that it had seized nearly half a cocaine to Europe, the drug traffickers trying, according to the authorities, to use Russian infrastructure to reach European ports via new roads.
/ATS