(AUCKLAND, New Zealand) — New Zealand police have made the country’s largest cocaine seizure, with 190 kilograms (418 pounds) of the drug found in a container of bananas shipped from Panama.
New Zealand police and customs officials say in a joint statement the cocaine was contained in five duffel bags on top of bananas in a shipment that arrived in Auckland from Balboa, Panama, in August.
Police in Auckland say a 41-year-old man has been arrested in Sydney after a joint operation with Australia’s Federal Police and its Criminal Intelligence Commission.
The bust came after the shipment was identified as suspicious following an investigation into an Australia-based organized crime group.
