Employees at supermarkets in the Czech Republic have found approximately 1,800 lbs of cocaine worth $83 million inside banana crates.

According to an article by Eurweb, supermarket workers in the Czech capital city of Prague, and in the towns of Jicin and Rychnov nad Kneznou, reportedly discovered the suspicious blocks of white powder before alerting the authorities, who dispatched officers with canine units to investigate.

The Czech police said in a statement on Friday, June 10: “Pressed cocaine cubes, in banana boxes, were found this afternoon by supermarket workers in Jicin, and Rychnov nad Kneznou.

“Criminal investigators found that goods of the same batch were distributed to several other places in the Czech Republic. Therefore, in cooperation with the [Customs Administration of the Czech Republic] and other entities, it is currently conducting inspections of these places and other actions.”

The Czech police are working with international counterparts to further their investigation. “Information about consignments is kept outside the territory of the Czech Republic, for this reason we will use the institute of international police and judicial cooperation,” it said.

“The case was taken over by the National Drug Control Center, which will conduct the investigation. We will provide more information as soon as possible.”

​​The delivery is believed to have been sent to supermarkets by mistake and is thought to have originated in Colombia. It had transited via the German port of Hamburg, the largest port in Europe after Rotterdam in the Netherlands, before arriving in the Czech Republic.

The investigation into the shipment of drugs hidden inside banana crates is currently ongoing.