Authorities in the Dominican Republic have seized nearly 9.5 tons of cocaine from a banana shipment in the country’s main seaport.
The drugs were found in a shipment from Guatemala that arrived at the Caucedo port in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, said Carlos Devers, a spokesman for the Dominican Republic’s anti-drug agency. The shipment was on its way to Belgium.
The seized shipment, worth about 19,000 pounds, is worth $250 million, officials said.
Jose Adames/AP
Ten suspects have been arrested, Devers said at a press conference.
It is yet another major seizure by national authorities. The country seized nearly 47 tons of drugs in 2024, including a stockpile of 660 pounds found on a boat in the waters off Puerto Rico.
Earlier this year, officials in Spain seized 13 tons of cocaine from a banana shipment. In February 2024, British authorities found more than 12,500 pounds of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas. Both discoveries also set records.
Jose Adames/AP
The Dominican Republic has long been considered a major transit country for drugs. Before that, the largest seizure ever occurred in 2006, when officials found more than 5,680 pounds, or nearly three tons, of cocaine at the port of Caucedo. This attack is more than three times as large.
