French customs officers discovered more than 1.1 tons of cocaine with a black market value of 75.5 million euros while checking a truck loaded with potting soil. The truck train traveling from Portugal to the Netherlands was stopped at a motorway toll station in Vienne, south of Lyon, customs said. While checking the 26 large bags of potting soil, officials found irregularities in the rear bags.
Finally, they dumped the entire load, searched the earth with an excavator and discovered 998 packages of cocaine. The three occupants of the truck were arrested and brought before the magistrate.
The discovery illustrates a worrying trend in which cocaine is being smuggled into Europe in increasing quantities via Portugal, Spain and France. Investigators are now talking about a “white tsunami” of cocaine that is flooding Europe via this smuggling route.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:260403-930-904624/1
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