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.
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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.
