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Published Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Police find 2.9 tons of cocaine in
fruit cargo exporting to Belgium
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
On Monday, Drug Control Police officers found a shipment of 2,903 kilos of cocaine hidden inside a container with bananas exporting to Belgium.
According to the police report, the container was found at the APM Terminal Port in Limón Province on Sunday, ready to be exported to the Antwerp Port in Belgium.
During the process of scanning the container, as part of the guidelines for detecting drugs, the cocaine shipment was found.
A more detailed inspection by the officers confirmed that the drug was packed in 117 black bags. In total, 2,903 rectangular packages were counted with an approximate weight of one kilogram of cocaine.
No suspect was arrested for the drug shipment. However, agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization will continue with the investigation to find the people responsible for loading the drug into the containers.
This is the second cocaine shipment in less than a month bound for Belgium.
In September, officials found 506 packages of cocaine, hidden in four containers that were about to be exported to Belgium from Moín Port, Limón Province.
According to the police report, during a routine containers check, the packages were found hidden inside a wall in the refrigeration area.
The four containers were in the Moín Port with a cargo of bananas to be exported to the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, the police said.
After the police detected the drug in one of the containers, they proceeded with the scanning of the other shipments, which revealed the hidden cargo in the refrigeration area.
A more precise review of the packages by police revealed that they were packages of cocaine. Each of the 506 packages weighed approximately one kilogram. The illicit cargo was distributed among four containers: 127 in one container, 126 in the second, 127 in the third and 126 more in the fourth.
A similar case happened in August when police arrested a Costa Rican man surnamed Romero-Ortega, 32, on suspicion of having loaded a container with 918 kilos of cocaine in fruit cargo to export to the Netherlands.
According to the police report, two properties related to the suspect were raided, a house located in Guácimo District and a warehouse located in Liverpool District. Both districts are located in the Limón Province.
Police seized electronic equipment, security camera circuits, packaging materials such as adhesive plastic and pallets, which will be used as evidence in the case.
The suspect has a criminal record for computer fraud and rape, the police said.
The Limón Prosecutor's Office alleges that the investigation could determine that on Aug. 7, Romero was the truck driver who transported the drugs to the APM Terminals Port in Limón Province.
That day the Drug Enforcement Police officers found a cargo of cocaine hidden in a container that was being prepared for shipping to the Netherlands.
During a routine scanner inspection of the containers, authorities detected the drug hidden inside a cargo of 1,260 boxes of pineapple ready to export to Rotterdam Port.
"The drug was contained in 21 briefcases, which were carefully checked and carried a total of 918 packages weighing approximately one kilogram of cocaine each," the Security Ministry said in its statement.
During this year, four drivers have been arrested on suspicion of trying to traffic drugs using this method, the ministry said.
Less than two months left in the year, so far this year 12,593 kilos of cocaine have been seized, according to the ministry.
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