[WATCH] Cocaine with street value of €101 million found hidden in banana shipment

A banana shipment transiting through Malta Freeport was busted after customs officials discovered 610kg of cocaine hidden in the consignment.

The cocaine, which originated in Ecuador, is estimated to have a street value of €100.6 million.

The drugs were intercepted during a search on a container that was selected by the customs monitoring unit following a risk assessment. This is the third cocaine bust at Malta Freeport this year.

The shipment departed Guayaquil in Ecuador and was on its way to Batumi in Georgia.

Customs said a scan of the container flagged discrepancies and this prompted a physical search of the contents.

Customs officials, together with members of the police drug squad opened the reefer and physically inspected all boxes, the Customs Department said.

From Ecuador with love: The cocaine was transiting through Malta on its way to Georgia (Photo: Malta Customs)

The search yielded 20 boxes of bananas containing 20 packets of cocaine each, while another 10 boxes contained 21 packets each. Once the drugs were elevated, the case was handed over to the police for further investigation.

Duty Magistrate Monica Vella is leading the inquiry.

Over the past three years Malta Customs seized several sizeable cocaine shipments that were transiting through Malta.

In 2019, 750kg of cocaine were confiscated in 13 separate seizures, while 2020 saw one seizure of 612kg. Last year, Customs found 740kg of cocaine in one case, while this year officials intercepted 800kg in the first case, a record-breaking 1,494kg in the second case and today’s seizure of 610kg.