Slovaks seize €50m worth of cocaine

Slovak customs snatched a bumper shipment of cocaine from South America worth 1

Slovak customs snatched a bumper shipment of cocaine from South America worth 1.64 billion crowns (€50 million), hidden in hundreds of wine bottles, customs and police officials said today.

The shipment contained 163.8 kg of pure cocaine, far more than the 13.9 kg of the drug the Slovaks managed to intercept between 1998 and 2007.

First police Vice-President Michal Kopcik said the drug valued each of the 420 seized wine bottles at 3.9 million crowns (€120,000).

Two containers with the drugs arrived in Slovakia from the German port of Hamburg having been shipped from Argentina.

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Officials did not reveal the country of origin, saying Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela were among potential sources of the drug.

Kopcik said nobody had been charged so far.