The US Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) detected more than 45 kilos of cocaine hidden in a shipment of Costa Rican pineapples on August 22nd, at the port of Wilmington (Delaware). This case joins similar discoveries in Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The pineapples came from the canton of San Carlos de Alajuela and were supposed to arrive to Clifton, New Jersey.
As reported by the CBP through a press release, the drug was hidden in the bottom of 20 cardboard boxes that protected the fruits. The name of the exporting company was not disclosed by the North American authority.
The drugs were discovered through a port analysis made by the canine unit. Several years ago, there were similar cases and raids associated with a criminal group -linked to an Italian mafia- that operated in New York.
Part of CBP’s mission is to prevent the arrival of illicit narcotics into the United States using all the resources at our disposal: technology, K9 (canine unit), CBP officers, and our law enforcement partners.This confiscation is a great example of the results we can achieve working with our partners throughout the community,”
said Casey Durst, director of CBP in Baltimore, Maryland.
This type of drug has a very high price in Europe or the United States.
On August 22nd, the authorities dismantled a Costa Rican organization that sent cocaine to Germany inside platforms for pineapples.
On August 26, the National Police of Spain found in Mercamadrid – the largest fresh fruit market in the capital of that country- 67 kilos of cocaine hidden in Costa Rican pineapples.
Apparently, an export company registered in Costa Rica was used as a screen to take products with drugs inside. After a process of investigation, the Spanish police found the ‘contaminated’ pineapple in the market and had to open each fruit to find the ones with drugs.