A Hamburg Sud container ship has been discovered with 223 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a container at the Port of Santos, reported Fleetmon.
The drugs were discovered on November 26, 2016, hidden amongst lumps of charcoal within a container; no arrests were made and the crew is thought to not be involved.
The container with the drugs found in it was supposed to be traveling to Antwerp, the traffickers allegedly boarded the ship from a smaller boat as it was docked, and then hoisted the packages up.
The ship has been detained pending further investigation into the investigation, and as of the early hours of November 28, 2016, the ship was still berthed at Santos.
136 Kilos of Cocaine were seized in a similar bust from a container ship in Mexico in mid-October, 2016; a raid by the Mexican Navy revealed the large drug stash hidden amongst the 4,253 containers on board.
In March 2016, the Mexican government accused the authorities at the time of being unable to inspect at least 20% of foreign vessels which dock at the country’s ports, and as a result, the Mexican Navy took over operations of the nation’s ports.
