Photo Credit: Reuters/Jon Nazca

Six tons of cocaine were hidden in a banana shipment that originated from Limon in Costa Rica, arrived to the port of Setubal in Portugal and was transported by truck to Malaga, Andalucia in the South of Spain.

The drug was seized by Spanish police as well as 300,000 Euros, firearms and vehicles, in an operation that also concluded with the arrest of 16 people among them several natives of Holland.

“After an investigation of almost one year, agents of the Civil Police and National Police detained in the early hours of Tuesday in Malaga a total of 16 people and seized 6,310 kilograms of cocaine (…) Wiwth an estimated market value of more than 1 billion Euros ($1.1 billion USD)”, says the report by daily El País.

Apparently, the criminal group is constituted mainly by Dutch who have settled in Costa del Sol and who specialize in bringing in cocaine to Spain and Holland. 15 People were arrested in Malaga and one in Badajoz, Extremadura in the Southwestern region of Spain.

On another case, back in August this year, 133 kilos of cocaine were discovered hidden in a cargo of Costa Rican Pineapples, the Spanish boat was intercepted in the port of Moin, Limon, and was on its way to Cork, Ireland, apparently in this case the group responsible for the shipment was the Kinahan Cartel, based in Dublin, Ireland’s capital, and is allegedly run by Christy Kinahan and her son, Daniel Kinahan. Daniel is a well known boxing promoter, who currently lives in Costa del Sol, Spain.

Also in August, Spanish authorities seized 67 kilograms of cocaine hidden again in a pineapple cargo that originated from Costa Rica; the discovery was made in a market in the city of Madrid, in this case too, the shipment arrived at the port of Setubal in Portugal and was transported by land to MercaMadrid.