U.K. police find $568 million of cocaine hidden in bananas, shattering drug-seizure record

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

February 23, 2024 / 8:10 AM EST


British authorities on Friday said they had found more than 12,500 pounds of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas, shattering the record for the biggest single seizure of hard drugs in the country.

The National Crime Agency said 5.7 tons of cocaine were found in a container of bananas at the port of Southampton on England's south coast on Feb. 8. The haul of drugs had an estimated street value of $568 million, the agency said.

Before the massive bust, the previous largest seizures of drugs in the U.K. was a 3.7-ton haul of cocaine found in Southampton two years ago, and before that, 3.2 tons discovered on a tug boat in Scotland in 2015, the agency said.

The packages of cocaine found this month were concealed in a cargo of bananas which had been transported from South America, and officials believe the drugs were headed to Hamburg, Germany, "for onward delivery."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/568-million-cocaine-hidden-bananas-record-drug-seizure-uk-southampton/

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Related - U.S. had it's own record seizure yesterday - CBP officers seize 6.5 tons of meth in Texas border town bust, largest ever at a port

[marble falls]

1. It's not the supply that drives this crap, it's the market, compounded by stupid drug laws.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. Agree

Cocaine should be 100% legal and well regulated.

Fentanyl broke the mold though, more must be done to stop fentanyl.

[marble falls]

6. fentanyl is special for two reasons:

1. it is so highly toxic.
2. A lot of it is used to foil people into thinking it's something else.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. Yeah

They're finding it in cocaine on the regular now. And people are dying from it while doing lines they thought were just coke.

Basically, dealers will cut the coacine down to next to no effect and then they'll add just a pinch of fentanyl so buyers will at least get some feeling.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. But wouldn't fentanyl give you the opposite

high of cocaine? Fentanyl would be sedating, versus cocaine being stimulating.

[hlthe2b]

3. Hmmm. If TFG starts buying bananas by the truckload, we'll know.

[Midnight Writer]

4. According to conservative logic, the UK should build a wall to keep out drugs.

[Prairie Gates]

5. The story is

bananas.

[Wonder Why]

8. Walmart has a special offer on bananas with a surprise.

[prodigitalson]

10. banana seizure record holds firm