Ecuadorian police seized 2.5 tons of cocaine on Sunday from a container of bananas about to be sent sent to Belgium from the south-west port city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, Belga news agency reports.
“Two tons and 458 kilograms of cocaine were seized,” the police of Ecuador wrote on its Twitter account, which also displayed a video showcasing the seized drugs.
GOLPE AL NARCOTRÁFICO 👊🏻
2 TONELADAS 458 kilos de cocaína, fueron aprehendidas, tras la inspección a un contenedor con banano de exportación, en uno de los puertos marítimos de #GYE 🚨 1 aprehendido#EjeInvestigativo #PlanRescateEcuador pic.twitter.com/RP54LvoSmP — Policía Ecuador (@PoliciaEcuador) April 17, 2022
The drugs had been divided into 2,461 packets of cocaine hidden among a shipment of bananas, which is one of the country’s main exports. During the inspection and discovery of the cocaine, one person was also immediately arrested.
In 2021, Ecuador seized a record of 210 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine, and has already confiscated more than 70 tons since the beginning of this year.
Located between Colombia and Peru, the main producers of cocaine, Ecuador often acts as a storage or transit point for the drug into other parts of the world. The country now faces large-scale trafficking problems through its ports and domestic sales and usage of cocaine has also risen significantly in recent years.
