The consignment was brought into port in Sagunto and 12 suspects are now in custody

A consignment of cocaine with a street value going into the millions has been found hidden amongst a cargo of bananas at the port in Sagunto, Valencia. A total of 228 kilos of cocaine have been seized. The Interior Ministry said all 12 members of the drugs network responsible for smuggling the cocaine into Spain have been taken into custody, with arrests taking place in Murcia, Málaga and Segovia.

El Mundo reports that the cargo was brought over by boat from Ecuador, under the cover of fruit import companies based in Murcia which, it was discovered, had carried out four test runs with ‘normal’ consignments over the previous two months.

The network was uncovered after authorities at the Colombian Embassy in Spain raised the alarm about an organised group of Spaniards and Colombian nationals they believed to be based in Murcia and who they said regularly used this method of smuggling cocaine into the country.

The consignment impounded by police was brought to the port at Sagunto on board a Panamanian-registered ship which had set sail from Guayaquil, in Ecuador. It was intercepted as part of a coordinated operation which, at the same time, saw police swoops against the network members in Murcia, Málaga, Alicante and San Rafael, in Segovia.

A similar operation last month impounded 140 kilos of cocaine at the port in Tarragona, which had also been smuggled in to Spain hidden amongst a cargo of bananas from Ecuador. (Via Original Article)