The haul had an estimated street value of 450 million euros ($525 million). (Representational)
Brussels:
Belgian police seized 11.5 tonnes of pure cocaine hidden in a scrap metal container in the country’s single biggest-ever haul, prosecutors said on Thursday,
The find was made on October 27 in the port of Antwerp when five scrap metal containers from South America were subjected to a thorough inspection, a statement said.
The haul had an estimated street value of 450 million euros ($525 million), it said.
Antwerp is Europe’s second largest goods port after Rotterdam, but is the number one gateway for cocaine to the continent, thanks to its close trade links with South America.
Investigators said the containers initially landed in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and were then transferred by barge to the port of Antwerp.
The cocaine was concealed in a smaller steel container that was fitted into in a larger container.
The final destination was a company located just across the Dutch border, they said.
After searches in Belgium and the Netherlands, three people were arrested, two in Belgium and one in the Netherlands.
The case is linked to a sting operation in September and October from which 22 suspects are still being held and three million euros in cash was seized.
Among those arrested were a former head of the gendarmerie and three active police officers.
The city of Antwerp and the neighbouring province of Limburg have been struck by a crime wave connected to the drug trade, including hostage-taking, grenade attacks and murders.
Apart from cocaine, Limburg is also known to host secret laboratories producing synthetic drugs for gangs mainly based across the border in the Netherlands.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)