According to Serbian Economist, Hungarian law enforcement agencies seized a record 522 kg of cocaine, the Hungarian police reported following a press conference.
According to police, the shipment was discovered at the Csepel port in Budapest among a cargo of bananas. Investigators inspected approximately 7,000 boxes and found 438 blocks of cocaine weighing a total of 522 kg. The estimated black market value of the shipment is approximately 43 million euros. Hungarian authorities called this the largest cocaine seizure in the country’s history.
The operation involved the Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation, the Hungarian Tax and Customs Administration, German law enforcement agencies, as well as partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Police also reported the arrest of several suspects. Hungarian law enforcement officials believe the country is becoming one of the logistics hubs through which large shipments of drugs from South America are distributed further across the region.
International container shipments of cocaine have surged in recent years. While major flows previously passed through major ports in the Netherlands and Spain, shipments are now increasingly being routed to Southern and Central Europe as well, including ports in Montenegro. From there, shipments can be redirected to other countries in the region.
Hungary has no seaports, but it is actively used as a transit country thanks to its rail and road connections with Germany, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and the Balkans. Montenegro, which has access to the Adriatic Sea, is also regularly cited in European investigations as one of the most frequent transit points for illicit shipments into the region.
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