Ecuadorian police intercepts almost two tonnes of cocaine headed to Belgium

Police in Ecuador have intercepted nearly two tonnes of cocaine in a seafood container that was to be shipped from the port city of Guayaquil to Belgium.

This was announced by the Ecuadorian police, who said they seized 124 boxes containing a total of 1.9 tonnes of cocaine and arrested a suspect.

Europe has recently developed into a hub for the cocaine trade, with shipments bound for Asia, the Middle East and Australia often going first to European ports since containers from Europe are checked less closely.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), most cocaine manufacture continues to take place in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.Together these countries report the majority of cocaine laboratories dismantled globally. From those countries, the cocaine are mainly smuggled to the US and Europe.

(VIV)

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© BELGA PHOTO (Marcos PIN / AFP) Ecuadorean anti-narcotics police stand guard next to packs of cocaine from a 3-ton shipment seized from a container of bananas, in the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 1, 2022.

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