German authorities have seized tons of cocaine in the northern port city of Hamburg, in a seizure described as "the largest in the country's history."
The British newspaper The Guardian reported that 4.5 tons of cocaine had been seized, worth more than 1 billion euros ($1.11 billion).
The Hamburg customs office said the seizure came after a suspicious shipping container was examined two weeks ago, coming from the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and bound for the Belgian city of Antwerp.
In a statement, the office said the description of the container indicated that it was loaded with soybeans, but after an audit, authorities found 221 black sports bags containing 4,200 cans of compressed cocaine.
"The huge value of the reservations represents the largest single seizure of cocaine in Germany," he said, adding that the Hamburg prosecutor's office is investigating details of the potential destination of the container.
"The cocaine seized under strict and comprehensive security measures has been destroyed," the statement concluded.
By Craig Melon August 3, 2019
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