More than 1.7TONS of cocaine is found hidden in avocado shipments heading from Colombia

A Colombian drug trafficking organization was busted trying to smuggle more than $50 million worth of cocaine inside shipments of avocados. 

The latest attempt proved unsuccessful when police officers discovered 1.7 tons of the drugs concealed within a fruit shipment headed towards Portugal.

The discovery took place Monday while narcotic agents were carrying out a routine inspection of containers in the Caribbean port city of Santa Marta, according to National Police director general William Salamanca.

The drugs, which hold a United States street value of approximately $50.8 million, were destined for Setúbal, 30 miles south of Portugal’s capital, Lisbon.

Colombian narcotic cops discovered a shipment of 1,680 kilos hidden within boxes of avocados at a port in the Caribbean seaside city of Santa Marta on Tuesday

The shipment, worth approximated $50.8 million in the streets of the United States, was destined for Portugal 

Footage shared by Salamanca on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, showed agents removing sealed cocaine packages from a box filled with dozens of avocados.

Colombian Defense Minister Iván Velásque said on X that the shipment contained 1,696 kilos in total and mostly likely belonged 'to the Gulf Clan.'

The cartel, which is also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, is the country’s most powerful criminal organization and is made up of former paramilitary leaders.

Colombian cops found 1,680 sealed packages of cocaine that were concealed in boxes of avocados

Narcotics cops were conducting a routine inspection of containers at a port in Santa Marta, Colombia on Tuesday when they discovered a massive shipment of cocaine mixed with boxes of avocados that were headed to Portugal

Colombia's National Police has seized more than 80 tons of cocaine through the first three months of 2024

Its former leader, Dario “Otoniel” Úsuga was captured in October 2021 and extradited to the United States in May 2022.

In January 2023, he pleaded guilty before a federal court judge in New York to smuggling 110 tons of cocaine and was fined $216 million. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison in August 2023.

The National Police said in a statement the bust eliminated the circulation of 4,250,000 doses of cocaine off the streets.

More 80 tons of cocaine have been seized in the first three months of 2024. 

The South American nation is a top producer of cocaine and its government is constantly dealing with pressure from the United States to curb its output.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, coca crops in Colombia covered 568,000 acres in 2022, the latest year for which figures are available, up 13 percent from 2021.