Cocaine disguised as charcoal with a potential value of up to $41.4 million has been seized in a joint operation between Irish and Dutch police authorities.
The drugs were found inside two shipping containers from South America that arrived at the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, as part of what Irish investigators believe was an attempt to import up to half a ton of cocaine to Ireland, according to a press release from Ireland’s national police and security service. According to reports, 2,000 bags of charcoal were found inside the containers but due to the use of an X-ray scanner and police sniffer dogs, some of the bags were found to contain cocaine.
Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) later confirmed that cocaine was present, but it will reportedly take a number of days and perhaps longer for FSI to extract the cocaine from the product within which it is concealed.
Arrests are expected soon as part of an ongoing investigation by the Irish National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.