Cocaine stash worth £11m delivered to Aldi
Police say smugglers made a 'logistical error' in the second accidental drug delivery to the budget supermarket
Large shipments of cocaine have been discovered in crates of bananas in Aldi supermarkets across Berlin, for the second time this year.
The drugs were found in several stores and weighed a total of 300kg, local newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reports. With an estimated street value of £11m, it's the single largest shipment of cocaine ever to be discovered in the city.
Unwitting employees discovered the narcotics while unpacking crates of fruit in stores in Berlin and Brandenburg. The drugs were said to have a very high degree of purity.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Police believe the smugglers made a "logistical error" en route from Colombia. "The wrong container was probably used when the merchandise was put on board the ship," police spokesperson Stefan Redlich told the RBB radio station.
"Or possibly, there wasn't enough time for the smugglers to unload it when it arrived in Hamburg," he speculated.
Drug cartels have been known to use food shipments to smuggle large amounts of narcotics from South and Central America to Europe. Last year, £1.1m worth of cocaine was found in a coffee shipment in Berlin.
This isn't the first time Aldi has received an unwanted delivery with its bananas. In January, 140kg of cocaine was discovered in boxes shipped from Colombia to Berlin.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Le Pen back in the dock: the trial that’s shaking FranceIn the Spotlight Appealing her four-year conviction for embezzlement, the Rassemblement National leader faces an uncertain political future, whatever the result
-
The doctors’ strikesThe Explainer Resident doctors working for NHS England are currently voting on whether to go out on strike again this year
-
5 chilling cartoons about increasing ICE aggressionCartoons Artists take on respect for the law, the Fourth Amendment, and more
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned