Irish authorities are reporting the seizure of up to half a ton of cocaine with an estimated street value of $41 million in a joint operation with Dutch authorities and the Port of Rotterdam. The cocaine was disguised as charcoal illustrating the sophisticated methods being used by the drug gangs to move the narcotics. It will take the authorities days to reverse the chemical processes to know the full extent of the seizure.
The Irish Garda Siochana through its Garda National Drugs & Organized Crime Bureau said the seizure was part of a larger campaign against the organized drug cartels. They only said that it involved working with multiple authorities without providing details into how they became aware of the shipment.
Two shipping containers traveling from an unnamed South American country were offloaded in the Port of Rotterdam. The Dutch authorities working with the port placed the containers under observation waiting for them to be claimed. It was unclear how they thought they might be moved to Ireland. Read on.
