12 tonnes of cocaine found buried in bunkers on Colombia banana farms
MORE than 12 tonnes of cocaine has been found buried in bunkers on banana farms in South America.
The drugs allegedly belonged to Colombia’s top crime gang, the Gulf Clan, and were being stored underground on four farms near Colombia’s border with Panama.
It’s the biggest single-seizure ever in the country’s long-running fight against drug trafficking.
President Juan Manuel Santos estimated the US market value of the cocaine to be around $360 million.
When broken down into 11 million $60 one-gram hits, that equates to a street value of around $660 million.
The cocaine, which weighed as much as two fully-grown male African elephants, was laid out in packages on display for the media outside a local police station.
“Thanks to a police operation with overseas intelligence, from friendly countries, the largest seizure in history was made,” President Santos said.
Four people were arrested during the three-day operation, which involved more than 400 anti-narcotics police.
Colombia is one of the world’s leading producers of cocaine.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the country produces 910 tonnes of the drug each year.
More than 362 tonnes has been seized by police this year alone.
Colombia police have seized 12 tons of cocaine – the largest single drug seizure in the history of the country. The drugs were discovered stored underground when around 400 anti-narcotics police stormed four farms in a banana-growing area pic.twitter.com/V2f48mLOc0
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 9, 2017
