THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities arrested 10 people Tuesday suspected of smuggling drugs from South America to Europe and seized 105 kilograms (230 pounds) of cocaine, police said.
The arrests made in coordination with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took place in northern Greece’s port city of Thessaloniki, where police said the drugs were unloaded from a merchant ship several days earlier.
The cocaine was hidden in a consignment of bananas from Ecuador that was headed for North Macedonia, police said in a statement.
Thessaloniki is major gateway for goods heading to markets in North Macedonia and other Balkan countries.
The suspects, identified as seven Greek and three Albanian nationals, were arrested after they allegedly removed the drugs from hollow external sections of the shipping containers that held the bananas, police said.
Greek police said the operation was carried out with assistance from the DEA. They said they were seeking the arrest of one more person.
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