Malta seizes record cocaine haul bound for Libya

Maltese authorities seized more than 600kg (1,300 lbs) of cocaine being sent to Libya in a record-breaking haul worth some 70 million euros ($85 million), the customs department said on Thursday. "To get a better perspective, during the whole of 2019 a total of 750kg (worth 84.5 million euro) were intercepted by Customs from 16 containers," the statement said.

Maltese authorities seized more than 600kg (1,300 lbs) of cocaine being sent to Libya in a record-breaking haul worth some 70 million euros ($85 million), the customs department said on Thursday. The cocaine was being shipped from Ecuador and Columbia and was discovered hidden in a container on a ship at Malta Freeport late on Wednesday, the department said in a statement. Police have opened an investigation.

Customs said officials had seized 510 packets weighing 1.2kg each in what it described as a record-breaking seizure from a single container. "To get a better perspective, during the whole of 2019 a total of 750kg (worth 84.5 million euro) were intercepted by Customs from 16 containers," the statement said. ($1 = 0.8268 euros)

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