A Flemish farmer who purchased boxes of bananas at the market in Brussels on Tuesday came home to discover large amounts of cocaine packed among the produce, according to reporting from De Standaard.
Stefan Van Dorslaer, a farmer in Flemish Brabant, attends the early market in Brussels regularly and discovered the cocaine when he was unpacking the purchased bananas to sell at his farm shop.
In seven of the ten boxes he purchased were bricks of cocaine, wrapped in plastic with tape around it, “just like you see in the movies,” Van Dorslaer told De Standaard.
“It was immediately clear that these were not packages of cocoa butter. We didn’t know what to do with it: bringing it all to the police ourselves did not seem the best idea.”
He instead phoned the police, who showed up at the farm en masse after blocking off the street using officers with automatic weapons.
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“Apparently, they were afraid that there would be some kind of tracking device in the cargo,” the farmer said.
“The police took plenty of time to weigh everything and to record traces. Around noon, they were finally gone. The other three boxes of bananas I did get to keep.”
An investigation will examine where the cargo came from.
The boxes were labeled as arriving from Colombia, and employees at the Brussels market from which they were purchased have been contacted.
“In the meantime, all the neighbours have called to ask what was going on here,” the farmer said.
“Let's be clear: we are not drug barons. We have absolutely nothing to do with this and I hope we never have to go through it again.”
