Peru drug bust: Police find cocaine on coal ship

World Today

Police in Peru have seized a record amount of cocaine from a Mexican drug cartel, hidden in a shipment of coal bound for Europe. CCTV America’s Dan Collyns has more.

It’s more than three tons and counting. Authorities said the final amount could be more than double.

Hours after the seizure, police continued chipping away at football-sized blocks of coal concealing packets of pure cocaine. Peru’s President Ollanta Humala was on the scene soon after the discovery.

“What you are seeing today is just the beginning, we’re 30 percent of the way there. All of these white bags have to be purified, examined and then the pure cocaine that is found must be separated,” said President Ollanta Humala.

The find was the result of a six-week surveillance operation with the help of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Police said the drugs were hidden in a house near the coastal town of Huanchaco in northwestern Peru.

Vicente Romero, the Chief of Peruvian anti-drug police, said eight people had been detained, six being Peruvian and two being Mexican. Authorities also said the two Mexicans are suspected of working for Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, which is believed to have a permanent presence in Peru.

Since 2012, Peru has been the world’s top grower of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine. Police in Peru said this seizure was destined for shipments to Belgium and Spain. Experts said Europe has become the principal consumer of Peruvian cocaine.

The United Nations said the size of Peru’s coca plantations dropped by nearly a fifth between 2012 and 2013. Even so, police continue to struggle with the outflow of cocaine which is smuggled into neighboring Brazil, or north through Mexico to the United States.