SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - The Dominican Republic on Friday reported its largest ever cocaine seizure, saying it found some 9.5 metric tons of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment that arrived at a port in Santo Domingo, the capital.
Carlos Denvers, the National Drug Control Directorate's communications chief, told a press conference that authorities had discovered 320 bags containing some 9,528 kilograms of cocaine, which they estimated was valued at some $250 million.
"Early investigations show that a container carrying bananas arrived from Guatemala," Denvers said. "Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium."
He said it was the country's largest seizure, topping a 2,580-kg seizure in 2006 in Santo Domingo's Caucedo port, the same port where the latest shipment was discovered.
InSight Crime, a foundation that analyzes organized crime, has warned that record-breaking seizures made this year suggest the Caribbean is resurfacing as a major trafficking route from Colombia to Europe, where consumption is estimated to have more than doubled between 2011 and last year.
"As demand grows, traffickers are ramping up efforts to meet it, turning to the Caribbean as an ideal conduit for smuggling cocaine to Europe," InSight Crime said in an analysis in late November, noting that large Dominican transport hubs provide extensive opportunities to traffickers.
(Reporting by Jesus Frias and Erika Santelices in Santo Domingo; Writing by Sarah Morland and Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Leslie Adler)
