Peruvian anti-drug police have seized 3.4 tons of cocaine that was suspected of being hidden in a shipment of bananas bound for Belgium.
"As part of a powerful operation against drug trafficking, the Peruvian National Police seized 3,407 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride in the Piura region, thus preventing its shipment abroad," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The seized drugs come from the large coca-growing region known by the acronym VRAEM (Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Madaro Rivers), President José Jerí said. In Wednesday's operation, police seized a truck carrying more than 3,000 packages of cocaine destined for a warehouse where boxes of bananas were being packed for export, about 100 kilometers from the port of Paita, authorities said.
General Nilton Santos, head of the anti-drug agency, told TV Perú that the operation was carried out with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He noted that the value of the seized drugs exceeded $68 million.
According to a statement from the Peruvian presidency, behind this shipment is a criminal organization of Peruvian, Colombian and European citizens, which aimed to send drugs to Belgium.
According to the UN, Peru, along with Colombia and Bolivia, is among the world's leading producers of cocaine. According to Peruvian authorities, the country is said to produce around 400 tons of the drug each year.
