Updated 01.25 | Published 01.21
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full screenParaguay’s anti-drug agency Senad guards the cocaine from the crackdown. Photo: Jorge Saenz/AP/TT
Paraguay has seized the largest amount of cocaine ever to date in a crackdown dubbed “operation sweetness”.
Four tons of cocaine were found hidden among sugar at the port of the capital Asunción that were to be delivered to Belgium, authorities in the South American country announced.
The strategically located country has become a transit country for drug cartels in the region.
President Santiago Peña hopes that the cocaine seizure, worth approximately SEK 2.5 billion, will disrupt the drug trade.
– I think it sends a signal to organized gangs not to use Paraguay as a transit, says President Peña and promises further investments to increase security at the ports.