Authorities in Hamburg, Germany have seized 1.5 tons of cocaine which was smuggled in a shipment of rice from Guyana.
German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt reported that the cocaine was hidden between sacks of rice and has an estimated street value of around 300 million Euros (US353 million).
The shipping container came from Guyana and arrived at the port of Hamburg in late June on the container ship, CMA CGM Jean Gabriel.
The container which held the drugs was meant to be transferred to another ship destined for Poland and was being temporarily stored at the Hamburg terminal.
During this time, investigators at the Joint Customs and Police Investigation Group (JIT) reportedly received a tip-off about drug smuggling. After investigating the container, authorities found 47 large packages hidden between the rice sacks.
Inside those were 1,277 smaller packages of cocaine. German authorities assumed that it was to be distributed from Poland to bulk buyers across Europe.
Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster, reported that this bust is among one of the largest cocaine seizures in the port of Hamburg.
Only last year had German customs discovered 4.5 tons of cocaine (valued at almost 1 billion Euros) on a container ship from Uruguay destined for Antwerp, Belgium.
