Customs officers in Cork on Wednesday seized some €3 million worth of cocaine when they searched a container full of bananas after it was unloaded at Ringaskiddy.
Officers found some 43kgs of the drug hidden among a cargo of bananas as a result of risk profiling, where customs officers look at the origin of each individual container being unloaded.
The bananas originated in South America and were shipped across the Atlantic on what is colloquially known as “the banana boat” which calls to Cork approximately every fortnight.
According to a Customs source, drug smugglers often use container ships bringing fruit produce from South America to Europe to smuggle cocaine into the Continent.
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The seizure at Ringaskiddy follows other major hauls of cocaine in containers of bananas at the Port of Cork facility in recent years.
Bananas appear to have become the fruit of choice for Colombian drug cartels when they want to ship cocaine to Europe.
In February 2021, customs and gardaí found 172 kgs of cocaine with an estimated street value of €12 million hidden in a container of fruit that had originated in Central America.
In February this year, the National Crime Agency and UK border force officers seized 5.7 tonnes of cocaine worth €550 million when they searched a container of bananas in Southampton, England.
Just last Saturday, police in the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean seized nearly 9.5 tonnes of cocaine in a consignment of bananas that were being shipped from Guatemala to Belgium.
Irish customs sources say the Ringaskiddy seizure was destined for the Christmas market here, where cocaine usage has increased dramatically in recent years.
According to Revenue figures earlier this year, customs officers had seized €170 million worth of drugs by September – more than double the amount they had seized in the same period in 2023.
Investigations are continuing.
