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€15m of cocaine found in Aldi banana boxes

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
€15m of cocaine found in Aldi banana boxes
A stash of cocaine found in an Aldi banana box last year. Police discovered more hidden narcotics in banana boxes on Monday. Photo: DPA.

More than 300 kilograms of cocaine worth €15 million were discovered in Berlin-area Aldi supermarkets, hidden in cases of bananas, police reported on Monday.

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Local newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reported that the narcotics collected across 13 stores amounted to more than 300 kilograms, valued at €15 million.

The cocaine was found as supermarket employees unpacked the boxes of bananas in various stores across Berlin and Brandenburg. Police were still searching other stores for more narcotics as of Monday afternoon.

This is not the first time that Aldi supermarkets have been used as hiding spots for drugs in the Berlin area.

In January 2014, police reported finding 140 kilograms of cocaine across various Aldi supermarkets in the area.

The stashes found in 2014 were the second-largest found in Berlin in 35 years.

A police spokesperson explained last year that the 140-kilograms of narcotics had been transported from Colombia to the port of Hamburg. The bananas were then transported to the Moabit area of Berlin where they were sent out to suppliers.

A "logistical error" had led to the drugs making it to stores, police said at the time, most likely due to the cargo being loaded into the wrong containers, or traffickers failing to unload the boxes in time when they arrived.

Hiding drugs in food shipments is a common method used by traffickers. Last year €1.5 million worth of cocaine was found in a coffee shipment in Berlin.

One kilogram of cocaine has a market value of roughly €50,000.

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