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Brussels:
Belgian police seized 11.5 tonnes of pure cocaine hidden in a scrap steel container within the nation’s single biggest-ever haul, prosecutors mentioned on Thursday,
The discover was made on October 27 within the port of Antwerp when 5 scrap steel containers from South America have been subjected to a radical inspection, a press release mentioned.
The haul had an estimated avenue worth of 450 million euros ($525 million), it mentioned.
Antwerp is Europe’s second largest items port after Rotterdam, however is the primary gateway for cocaine to the continent, due to its shut commerce hyperlinks with South America.
Investigators mentioned the containers initially landed within the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and have been then transferred by barge to the port of Antwerp.
The cocaine was hid in a smaller metal container that was fitted into in a bigger container.
The last vacation spot was an organization situated simply throughout the Dutch border, they mentioned.
After searches in Belgium and the Netherlands, three individuals have been arrested, two in Belgium and one within the Netherlands.
The case is linked to a sting operation in September and October from which 22 suspects are nonetheless being held and three million euros in money was seized.
Among these arrested have been a former head of the gendarmerie and three lively law enforcement officials.
The metropolis of Antwerp and the neighbouring province of Limburg have been struck by a criminal offense wave related to the drug commerce, together with hostage-taking, grenade assaults and murders.
Apart from cocaine, Limburg can also be identified to host secret laboratories producing artificial medication for gangs primarily based mostly throughout the border within the Netherlands.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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