Dominican Republic authorities said they had confiscated about 9.5 tons of cocaine found in a shipment of bananas during a press conference held this Friday, December 6, AP News reported.
The drug was discovered aboard a boat that arrived in Caucedo, the country’s main seaport located in the capital Santo Domingo.
“Initial investigations show that a container with bananas arrived from Guatemala. Many unknown people tried to transfer the drugs to another container that was going to be sent on a ship to Belgium,” explained Carlos Devers, spokesman for the Dominican Republic’s anti-drug agency. .
This is the largest drug seizure in the history of the country, surpassing a seizure of 2.6 tons, also in Caudedo, in 2006. A total of ten suspects were arrested.
47 tons of drugs seized in 2024
Dominican Republic authorities have seized almost 47 tons of drugs so far this year.
the group of experts InSight Crime which analyzes organized crime, estimated that the record seizures made this year suggest that the Caribbean is once again becoming a favored trafficking route between Colombia and Europe, where consumption more than doubled between 2011 and 2023.
“As demand increases, traffickers are redoubling their efforts to meet it, turning to the Caribbean as an ideal conduit for trafficking cocaine to Europe,” InSight Crime wrote in a late November analysis, noting that major trafficking hubs Dominican transportation offered vast trafficking opportunities.
Source: BFM TV
