German customs officials in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven have made one of the largest cocaine seizures in recent years.
More than 8 tons of the drug, with an estimated street value of around €500 million ($581 million), were seized, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Aurich Public Prosecutor’s Office and the General Customs Directorate in Cologne.
The discovery at the Jade-Weser Port was made on February 9, and has been kept secret until now for tactical reasons.
Thanks to subsequent international cooperation, two suspected ringleaders were arrested by Spanish authorities in mid-May during a staged container handover in the Spanish province of Almería. One of the accused is the managing director of an import company.
Germany's Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil praised the success of the investigation. "Eight tons of cocaine in a single seizure – that is a major blow to the international drug trade," Klingbeil said.
He thanked the investigators and announced that he would shortly be presenting the Customs Financial Justice Act to the Cabinet intended to provide customs with new technical and legal tools for the fight against organized crime.
According to customs and the public prosecutor’s office, the drugs were found in a shipping container from West Africa, which, according to the shipping documents, was loaded with cocoa beans and destined for Spain.
During an X-ray scan, the inspection unit at Oldenburg Main Customs Office reportedly noticed irregularities, whereupon officers discovered over 400 packages wrapped in black foil.
Each package reportedly contained around 20 hard-pressed blocks of cocaine. To prevent any violent attempt by criminals to reclaim the drugs, the narcotics were destroyed in Germany under strict security measures.
The perpetrators had fitted the packages with GPS transmitters to be able to monitor the location of the cargo at all times.
