The hiding place was very strong, but it was revealed. A large amount of cocaine was found in crates of bananas destined for supermarkets in Lübeck (Germany) and the region, the German police reported this Thursday, November 13 in a press release.
The first discovery occurred on Monday evening, November 10, when discount supermarket employees alerted local police after finding a suspicious package when they had just received the merchandise.
The merchandise is estimated at 20 million euros
Upon arrival at the location, investigators were quickly able to confirm that it was cocaine, which was transported via banana shipments to various stores of the targeted supermarket chain, the Lübeck general prosecutor’s office detailed in a joint press release with Hamburg police and customs.
Thanks to this first seizure, an investigation was opened and other boxes of bananas were intercepted the next day in the districts of Ostholstein, Lauenburg, Stormarn, Segeberg and Hamburg. In total, 500 kg of drugs were recovered by police, with an estimated street value of 20 million euros, regional newspaper Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitung details.
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A popular method among drug dealers
This way of hiding drugs is nothing new. In April, employees of the Albert Heijn supermarket chain in the Netherlands discovered several kilograms of cocaine in crates of bananas ready for sale at establishments in the south of the country.
The same operating method is also being used in France in deliveries to stores in the Grand Frais chain in September 2024. Four stores in Beaune (Côte-d’Or), Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire), Bessoncourt (Territoire de Belfort) and Sochaux (Doubs) have received shipments containing drugs in the form of bananas from Colombia.
