Greece finds 109 kilos of cocaine in container with frozen squid, police sources say

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ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek authorities confiscated more than 109 kg (240 pounds) of cocaine hidden in a container with frozen squid aboard a vessel inspected at the port of Piraeus, police sources said on Tuesday.

The container was shipped from Peru and its destination was Croatia, one of the officials said.

South American production of cocaine has surged over the past decade and Balkan traffickers have helped turn Europe into the world’s No. 1 cocaine market.

Greece last week said it had dismantled an international criminal group trafficking cocaine in shipping containers from Latin America to Europe, after an investigation launched by local drugs and contraband enforcement authorities in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dozens of plastic bags containing more than 210 kg (460 pounds) of cocaine were found and confiscated in containers with frozen shrimp last week.

The container on Tuesday was found on the same vessel and was among the 13 containers under inspection. Police were investigating any links with last week’s operation and were working with foreign authorities to obtain evidence that could lead to the arrest of suspects, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; editing by Jonathan Oatis)