Oops: $83M Worth of Cocaine Sent to Supermarkets

And in Colombia, cocaine disguised as potatoes
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2022 2:00 AM CDT
Updated Jun 19, 2022 7:05 AM CDT
Supermarkets Find $83M Worth of Cocaine in Banana Shipments
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / Jose Miguel Sanchez)

Supermarkets in the Czech Republic got a little more than they bargained for in their banana shipments last week: $83 million worth of cocaine. Police were alerted after grocery workers started discovering blocks of pressed cocaine in with the fruit; ultimately, 1,851 pounds were found, Newsweek reports. The crates of bananas originated in Colombia, and the drugs were meant to be intercepted, but were delivered to the grocery stores before they could be. "The information about the shipment leads outside the Czech Republic, therefore we will use international police and justice cooperation," police said in a statement, per Reuters.

This week, anti-narcotics police in Colombia found 2,866 pounds of cocaine disguised as potatoes and yucca, Reuters reports. The drugs were seized before being shipped from the Port of Cartagena to Spain, 9 News reports. "This may be the most innovative case discovered by drug traffickers in recent years, they had designed the drug in irregular molds simulating croquettes of cassava and papa criolla," a police official says. A tipster alerted authorities to the drugs. "The cooperation and support of the people who manage the maritime terminals in the country has been fundamental, we will continue working together to find those responsible and discover who is behind this shipment," the police official says. (More strange stuff stories.)

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