A drug interdiction raid by Peruvian police has European authorities worried that neo-Nazis are looking to large-scale drug dealing as a means of financing their campaigns of hate.
Dozens of packages of cocaine marked with Nazi swastikas as well as the name “Hitler” were seized at a port in northern Peru, where they would have been shipped to Belgium, police say.
Peru authorities are investigating whether there are links to Nazi groups, saying there were no well-known groups in the country and that it was possible the symbol was only being used as a style.
Drugs are often identified with a symbol representing the group which makes or moves the product.
The 50 bricks of cocaine, weighing some 58 kilos and worth $US3 million, were discovered inside a refrigerated container in the port of Paita, Police Colonel Luis Bolanos told reporters.
Peru and Colombia are the largest producers of coca leaf and cocaine in the world, according to the United Nations. Last year alone, Peruvian authorities seized more than 86 tonnes of drugs and illicit substances, including 28 tonnes of cocaine.
After being shipped to a Belgian port, Bolanos said the drugs would have been distributed across Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
After World War II, thousands of high-ranking Nazi officers sought refuge in South America, while in Europe, captured leaders stood trial for crimes against humanity.
A number of fringe neo-Nazi groups have since emerged across Europe, including in Belgium.
-AAP
