Spain seizes 13 tonnes of cocaine hidden behind bananas on a container from Ecuador

MADRID -- Authorities in Spain seized 13 tonnes (13,000 kilograms) of cocaine in a cargo container apparently filled with bananas, in what they called the biggest anti-narcotics operation in the country's history.

Officials found bricks of drugs hidden behind the fruit on a vessel at the southern port of Algeciras in southern Spain, police said in a statement Wednesday. The ship had sailed from Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The operation, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian police, took place last month and resulted in five raids and one arrest.

The Ecuadorian export company was on police and customs records for a history of “illicit trafficking,” according to the police. Police are looking for two of its managers.

To date, the largest drug seizures in Spain was 9.4 tonnes in 2023, and another 8.7 tonnes five years earlier.

Ecuador intercepted a total of 204 tonnes of drugs between January and September this year, almost the annual average for the past three years, government figures show.