After finding cocaine in banana trays in supermarkets, it is now reported that the customs office at Düsseldorf airport has secured a shipment of 5 tons of avocados on four pallets that contained 73 kilos of cocaine on the 15th of September 2017. The avocados were on a plane as cargo from Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic, to Düsseldorf.
Photo: Customs office
While unloading the fruits from the pallets into the truck, white powder came out of the carton packaging. Altogether, 73 packs, each containing one kilo of cocaine, were secured. Some of the vacuum sealed packages were damaged which caused the white powder to leak out of the avocados and the trays.
The shipment did not have Germany as its final destination, as it was to be further transported from Düsseldorf airport to the Netherlands by truck.
The street level value of the cocaine is about 5.3 million euros (6.2 million USD).
Because the Customs Investigation Office immediately started investigations in Germany and abroad, and these are still ongoing, no further information on the current state of the situation can be given.