Bosnian Warehouse Workers Find Huge Cocaine Stash in Banana Boxes

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Nov 13, 2023

Bosnian Warehouse Workers Find Huge Cocaine Stash in Banana Boxes

A banana box with packets of seized cocaine on display at the State Office of

A banana box with packets of seized cocaine on display at the State Office of Criminal Investigations in Berlin, Germany, January 2014. Photo: EPA/DANIEL NAUPOLD

Bosnia's State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA on Monday confirmed the seizure of 124 kilograms of cocaine that was found in banana boxes in a warehouse in the town of Siroki Brijeg.

"I can confirm the seizure, the investigators have done their part of the job, but due to the ongoing investigation, I can't give more details," Jelena Miovcic, SIPA's spokeswoman, told BIRN.

According to Bosnian media reports, workers at a fruit and vegetables import company found the cocaine packed in boxes in the company's warehouse.

According to estimates, the street value of a seized drug is around 10 million euros, marking it as one of the biggest drug seizures in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This is not the first time that police have found drugs shipments in Bosnian warehouses.

In January 2023, another 52 kilograms of cocaine were found packed with bananas, this time in the capital Sarajevo.

In August last year, the Police Administration of Republika Srpska seized 73 kilograms of cocaine from a warehouse in the city of Doboj, which had reportedly ended up in central Bosnia by accident.

In April 2021, a company in the city of Tuzla ordered a shipment of bananas, but received a container with 500 kilograms of cocaine instead.

Police waited at a harbour in Ploce in Croatia for someone to arrive to pick up the shipment, but no one did.

In January 2022, some 400 kilograms of cocaine were found in Montenegro, also packed in banana boxes.

It was not discovered until it reached the warehouse of the biggest retail chain in the country, where it was found by workers. One person was arrested.