The Ministry of Interior stated that Ecuador's police seized 2.5 tons of cocaine hidden in banana boxes destined to Europe on Saturday, June 17, 2017.
"In total, the police found 2,407 packs of drug weighing approximately 2.5 tons," the ministry said in a statement.
The cocaine packages were inside a cargo that was going to leave for Belgium from the Simon Bolivar Seaport of the city of Guayaquil, which is located in the southwest of the country. "The agents blocked the container that belonged to the Tropikfruit SA company and that contained bananas for export," the ministry added.
During the operation, the authorities detained a person identified as Julio Ch, who was in charge of the cargo.
Ecuador is considered a country free of illicit crops, but it is usually used for the transit of narcotics and inputs for its production.
In 2016, Ecuador seized a record 110,40 tons of drugs, mostly cocaine.
Between January and June this year, the authorities have seized about 30 tons of drugs.
Source: AFP