Cocaine stash worth £11m delivered to Aldi
Police say smugglers made a 'logistical error' in the second accidental drug delivery to the budget supermarket
Large shipments of cocaine have been discovered in crates of bananas in Aldi supermarkets across Berlin, for the second time this year.
The drugs were found in several stores and weighed a total of 300kg, local newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reports. With an estimated street value of £11m, it's the single largest shipment of cocaine ever to be discovered in the city.
Unwitting employees discovered the narcotics while unpacking crates of fruit in stores in Berlin and Brandenburg. The drugs were said to have a very high degree of purity.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Police believe the smugglers made a "logistical error" en route from Colombia. "The wrong container was probably used when the merchandise was put on board the ship," police spokesperson Stefan Redlich told the RBB radio station.
"Or possibly, there wasn't enough time for the smugglers to unload it when it arrived in Hamburg," he speculated.
Drug cartels have been known to use food shipments to smuggle large amounts of narcotics from South and Central America to Europe. Last year, £1.1m worth of cocaine was found in a coffee shipment in Berlin.
This isn't the first time Aldi has received an unwanted delivery with its bananas. In January, 140kg of cocaine was discovered in boxes shipped from Colombia to Berlin.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Musk's reliance on China draws rising scrutiny'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Biba: the story of a 'legendary emporium'
The Week Recommends Brand's 60th anniversary is being marked with retrospective celebrating the 'iconic shop's cultural importance'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spread to Africa
The Explainer Ukraine is attempting to strengthen its alliances on the continent to counter Russia's growing presence
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
The Red Army Faction: German fugitive arrested after decades on run
Why Everyone's Talking About Police reward and TV appeal leads to capture of Daniela Klette, now 65
By The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Ex-US diplomat confessed spying for Cuba to undercover agent, FBI says
Speed Read DOJ says former US ambassador Manuel Rocha perpetrated 'one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published