December 05, 2017 - 4:03 AM
MADRID - Spain has announced its second-biggest cocaine seizure ever, a near six metric-ton haul with a street value estimated at 210 million euros ($250 million).
Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said Tuesday the highly pure cocaine was found in a container on a ship that docked in the Mediterranean port of Algeciras, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of Madrid.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the drug was concealed inside boxes of bananas in a ship from Colombia heading to Barcelona.
Authorities have arrested three men — the alleged Spanish ringleader and his suspected Portuguese and Honduran accomplices. All lived in Barcelona.
In 1999, Spain netted 7.6 metric tons of cocaine on a ship at sea in its biggest haul.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017