Paraguay seized more than 3,400 kilos of cocaine near the capital city of Asuncion as it was being stashed in a load of sugar for international shipment, police said on Wednesday, calling it the country’s biggest-ever drug bust.
National Police Commander Luis Arias told reporters that the illegal stimulant, made with coca leaves grown in South America’s Andean region, was found in a warehouse in the Asuncion suburb of Fernando de la Mora. It was being prepared to be shipped out disguised in a load of organic sugar, he said.
“We are talking about more than (7,500 pounds) of cocaine. This was the culmination of an investigation by the anti-narcotics police, working with prosecutors, that took almost a month. The merchandise was in a container to be transferred to a safe port for export abroad, we do not know where. The warehouse was being rented and listed as a sugar deposit”, - Arias said.