27/12 The National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) indicated that more than 25,300 kilos of different drugs had been seized during the operations carried out throughout this year in the Dominican Republic.
27/12 English authorities seize 1.2 tons of cocaine from Costa Rica. The value of the seizure was estimated to be 120 million U.S. dollars. Police detained 7 people, including at least on English port worker. No Costa Ricans have been detained as part of this seizure.
27/12 Police find €7 million worth of cocaine in port of Ghent. 150 kilograms of cocaine were found in the port of Ghent hidden in a sea chest of a ship from Brazil.
27/12 Latvian police probe cocaine banana bust. Approximately 168 kilograms of what is most likely cocaine have been brought to Latvia in banana boxes. The police have determined that this shipment of bananas arrived in Latvia from South America.
29/12 Cocaine seizures reach new record; 68 tonnes found at ports this year. Customs officials and police have seized 68 tonnes of cocaine at Dutch ports and airports so far this year, well above last year’s record of nearly 50 tonnes. Most of the drugs were found in containers at Rotterdam port. ‘What surprises us is the enormous increase in big shipments,’ customs chief Nanette van Schelven told broadcaster NOS.
30/12 The Hague: Dutch customs have seized more than 1.6 tonnes of cocaine, hidden in shipments of bananas, cocoa beans and cement in Rotterdam harbour, the public prosecutor’s office said. The smuggled drugs, with an estimated street value of 127 million euros were stashed in three containers that arrived in Europe’s largest port.
30/12 $4 million worth of heroin seized by U.S. Navy in Arabian Sea. All nine crew members identified themselves as Iranian nationals, according to Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet.
31/12 Italian police find cocaine hidden inside a banana shipment. Pure cocaine worth an estimated €1 billion was seized in a police operation in Calabria, the base of operations for one of Europe’s most powerful organized crime groups.
31/12 El Salvador’s navy seized two semi-submersible boats carrying 4.1 metric tons of cocaine off the country’s Pacific coast, the government said. President Nayib Bukele said the cocaine was worth almost $104 million. It was the largest seizure so far in Bukele’s administration, which began in June 2019.
31/12 Albanian police seize 119 kilos of cocaine in banana containers. The shipments originated from Ecuador. The police arrested three people over the case, two Albanian drivers and the company’s administrator, a foreign citizen residing in Tirana.
