Algeciras, Spain: Spanish police have set a new national record for cocaine seizures, discovering 13 metric tons of the drug concealed within a shipment of bananas from Ecuador. The massive haul was found on October 14 in a container arriving at the southern port of Algeciras, one of Europe’s busiest ports. This discovery surpasses Spain’s previous record, set in 2023, when 9.4 tons of cocaine were seized—also in Algeciras.
“It is obvious that these 13 tons of cocaine were not only bound for the Spanish market,” said Antonio Jesus Martinez, head of the Central Narcotics Brigade of the National Police. “The Spanish market cannot handle so many drugs all at once. This drug was intended to be distributed throughout Europe.”
Spanish authorities had intensified their surveillance following a tip-off from Ecuadorian police, who flagged the suspicious shipment. Ecuador, the world’s largest exporter of bananas, has increasingly become a transit route for drug traffickers targeting European markets.
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Following the seizure, police arrested a woman associated with the company set to receive the shipment, though two managers connected to the importing company remain at large.
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