Nearly 8 tons of cocaine uncovered in banana shipment to Belgium

Nearly 8 tons of cocaine worth more than €200 million ($207 million) was discovered being smuggled in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador at the Belgian port of Antwerp, authorities said.

On October 20, 7.9 tons of the drug were found in a container at the port, triggering a joint investigation by Belgian and Dutch law enforcement, which led to the arrest last week of four suspects near Amsterdam, police in the Netherlands said late Friday.

Dutch police said they were able to track down the suspects by following the container in question to a warehouse in Emmeloord, Netherlands, after it was collected at the port.

The four suspects have been remanded in custody.

Also last week, a man from Eindhoven, Netherlands, was arrested while trying to bring 600 kilos of cocaine from the port of Antwerp to the Netherlands. The drugs had been in a container that had arrived from Colombia, according to police.

Belgian and Dutch police have been joining forces to combat large-scale drug smuggling through the port of Antwerp to the Netherlands. They are also cooperating with customs and tax authorities.