The Dominican Republic made its largest-ever drug bust last week, seizing 9,500kg of cocaine in a banana shipment at the Caucedo port in Santo Domingo.

Authorities said the drug was hidden in 320 bags, with an estimated value of $250 million, and the shipment had arrived from Guatemala. The shipment was to be transferred to another container headed for Belgium. 

The Dominican Republic has seized nearly 47 tons of drugs in 2024 alone. Earlier this year, authorities intercepted 660 pounds of cocaine on a boat near Puerto Rico, adding to the year’s haul.

There is growing concern regarding these and other shipments that indicate the Caribbean could be resurfacing as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.

Reports from Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, says criminal networks have inventively made use of legal business structures to facilitate or conceal their criminal activity and launder their money, a scheme that appears to have infiltrated fruit exports. 

Europe accounted for 21% of the world's cocaine users in 2020, according to a United Nations report.

Photo: Flickr