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It what could be an indicator of how new methods are being adopted for drug peddling, workers in supermarkets of a city in Czech Republic discovered powder-filled packages in the banana crates, which are thought to have come from Colombia.
Cocaine worth almost 68 million pounds was seized by police in the Czech Republic after it was ‘mistakenly’ delivered to supermarkets in banana shipments.
After being supplied to Czech supermarkets before being intercepted in Germany, drug smugglers lost out on a consignment of cocaine hidden in banana crates.
The police claimed they were working together on the case with counterparts from other unnamed countries. The cocaine most likely originated in Central America, according to Jakub Frydrych, the chief of the police anti-narcotics section.
In a statement, on twitter police officials said, “Criminal investigators found that goods of the same batch were distributed to several other places in the Czech Republic. Therefore, in cooperation with the customs administration and other entities, it is currently conducting inspections of these places and other actions.”
Further, the cops added that they were now set to work with international authorities for further investigation. They said that the information about consignments is kept outside the territory of the Czech Republic.
In their social media statement, the authorities also went on to inform that the case was taken over by the National Drug Control Centre, which will now conduct the investigation.
In a similar event in 2015, a supermarket in Prague was discovered with over 100 kilogrammes of cocaine. At 1999, authorities discovered 117 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed among dry fruit in a warehouse north of Prague.
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In total, around 998 kg of the drug was found moulded in cubes around the fruit crate. The police in the central European country informed that supermarket workers in the capital city Prague, as well as in the towns of Jicin and Rychnov nad Kneznou, first reported the suspicious blocks, with police dispatching dog units to investigate.
Citing United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Independent reported that cocaine production is at almost record levels having doubled between 2014 and 2019. Colombia accounts for the vast majority of this, the UN added in the 2021 report.
Meanwhile, this incident comes after the police in Colombia seized more than 1,300 kilograms of cocaine disguised as frozen potatoes and chips. The authorities said that they consider it as one of the most innovative attempts to traffic drugs in recent years.
