Bulgarian customs officials have made a significant drug bust, seizing approximately 370 pounds of cocaine from a cargo ship transporting bananas from Ecuador. The drugs were discovered hidden in a fruit container on the vessel named Madison 2, which had also made a stopover in Malta during its journey. The value of the confiscated cocaine is estimated to be around $6.8 million.
District prosecutor Georgi Chinev confirmed the seizure and highlighted the scale of the operation. The head of the customs agency, Petya Bankova, described this as the largest drug confiscation at the port of Burgas, emphasizing the successful interception of the illicit cargo.
The cocaine was cleverly concealed in 150 packages concealed behind a factory-made wall within one of the fruit containers on the ship. Following the unloading of the cargo, the vessel departed from the port, unaware of the hidden contraband it had been carrying.
An investigation has been initiated to identify the intended recipients of the seized cocaine. If found guilty of drug trafficking charges, the individuals involved could potentially face up to 20 years of imprisonment. Bulgaria, which has been actively combating drug trafficking in recent years, is recognized as a key transit point for cocaine originating from Latin America en route to Western Europe.
