Email

Colombian police seize cocaine stashed in bricks

Police estimate the drugs could be worth almost $2m if sold in the United States

Police in Colombia say they have seized half a tonne of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bricks.

Police estimate the drugs could be worth almost $2m if sold in the United States

Officers said the drugs would have been worth $1.7m (£1.1m) if sold on the streets of the United States.

The cocaine was found stashed inside the cargo in the Colombian port city of Cartagena.

Police are investigating the construction firm behind the shipment, which they suspect was set up solely for the purpose of smuggling drugs.

The shipment was destined for Honduras, from where police believe the cocaine would have been smuggled to the United States.

Officers from Colombia’s counter-narcotics police force and members of the US Drug Enforcement Administration had received a tip-off about the new construction firm.

When they tested the shipment, 13 out of 15 pallets of bricks proved to contain cocaine.

According to the United Nations World Drug Report, most of the cocaine seized in the US comes from Colombia.

Related posts

US election: what a Trump victory would mean for the rest of the world

US-Africa relations under Biden: a mismatch between talk and action

How Putin views the choice between Harris and Trump, and what the election means for Russia