Italian authorities have seized around 1,700 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $290 million that was hidden inside a shipment of bananas at the Port of Vado Ligure, according to Fox News. The drugs were discovered inside a refrigerated shipping container that had arrived from one of Ecuador's main ports.
According to Fox News, the cocaine was divided into 650 packages and carefully concealed among pallets of bananas. Officials from Italy's Guardia di Finanza said field tests confirmed the seized substance was extremely pure cocaine.
Authorities estimated the drugs could have been worth around 250 million euros, or nearly $290 million, if they had reached the illegal market. Investigators described the seizure as one of the biggest anti-drug operations carried out at the port in recent years.
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Officials said the operation followed an extensive analysis of commercial shipping routes linking South America with Vado Ligure, a major gateway for goods entering Europe. They said international drug trafficking groups increasingly target such ports to move illegal narcotics into the continent.
The Guardia di Finanza said the seizure forms part of its ongoing efforts to disrupt international drug trafficking networks and protect communities from the impact of narcotics.
Fox News also reported that the seizure comes just weeks after US Customs and Border Protection officers found more than 1,100 pounds of cocaine hidden inside a commercial truck carrying cabbage at the Pharr Port of Entry in Texas. That haul, worth nearly $10.8 million, was uncovered after officers used imaging technology and a trained sniffer dog to inspect the vehicle.
