Dec 8 \u2013 Authorities in the Dominican Republic say cocaine discovered in the country\u2019s largest-ever seizure was headed to Europe.<\/p>\n
Hidden in a banana shipment, officials found 9,500kg of the drug at a port in the capital, Santo Domingo.<\/p>\n
The cocaine was hidden in 320 bags with an estimated street value of $250 million (\u00a3196 million).<\/p>\n
At least 10 people linked to the port are under investigation with early investigations showing the bananas had arrived from Guatemala, according to the National Drug Control Directorate.<\/p>\n
Communications chief Carlos Denvers said: \u201cMany unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium.\u201d<\/p>\n
The haul far exceeds the 2,580kg seizure made by Dominican authorities at the same port in 2006.<\/p>\n
Monitoring agencies have reported that the Caribbean is resurfacing as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0report last year<\/a>\u00a0found the use of cocaine is increasing in several western European countries including the UK, Belgium, France and Spain.<\/p>\n Europe accounted for 21% of the world\u2019s cocaine users in 2020, according to a\u00a0United Nations report<\/a>.<\/p>\n