German police have detained six men suspected of drug smuggling, after 3,600 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Britain last week, a spokeswoman for police in the northern port of Hamburg said on Thursday, reported dpa.
The drugs, estimated to have a street worth of €90 million were discovered in the port of Southampton last Thursday hidden among bananas in a refrigerated container, she said.
The container, which remained on the vessel, was then shipped to Hamburg, where the suspects loaded it onto a lorry and transported it to a warehouse in the town of Winsen, south-east of Hamburg.
Hamburg police special forces detained five men aged 26 to 41 at the warehouse. A sixth man aged 53, who fled to his home in a nearby residential building during the operation, was taken into custody shortly afterwards.
Three Colombian nationals aged 26, 39 and 40, as well as a Belarusian national aged 35 are being remanded in custody. A 41-year-old German national and the 53-year-old, who holds Turkish citizenship, have since been released.
The amount of cocaine is considered unusually large, though it is not the biggest ever find for police and customs in Hamburg, home to Europe's third-largest seaport.
In February 2021, authorities intercepted a 16-ton drug haul, while investigators in Southampton seized 5.7 tons of cocaine destined for Hamburg last year.
Last week, customs authorities in Hamburg seized nearly 600 kilograms of cocaine in a single day.
- Germany
- Drug
- British port
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
