4 tons of cocaine found hidden in sugar in biggest bust in Paraguay’s history

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Authorities in Paraguay announced Tuesday the largest cocaine seizure in the country's history, after officials were surprised to find more than 4 tons of the drug stashed inside a shipment of sugar bound for Belgium. It marked the second time this week that officials in South America announced a major bust involving cocaine hidden inside a food shipment.

President Santiago Peña told journalists that the record discovery, code-named "Operation Sweetness," added to a string of "very sad episodes" in Paraguay that had transformed the strategically located nation into a key drug trafficking hub in the region.

Peña expressed hope that the seizure, valued at roughly $240 million, would disrupt the cocaine trade and said police were pursuing those responsible.

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"I think it sends a signal to organized gangs not to use Paraguay as transit; they're going to find authorities that are determined and working in a coordinated way," Peña said, promising further efforts to boost port security. "Gangs are not going to be able to avoid all the controls that we are implementing."

Agents from Paraguay's anti-drug agency, Senad, and an anti-drug dog inspect sacks of sugar at the port of Caacupemi in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Jorge Saenz / AP

On Monday, agents from Paraguay's anti-drug agency, known as Senad, started unpacking the shipping containers filled with 88-pound sacks of sugar at Puerto Caacupemi, a river port in the capital, Asunción. On Tuesday they were still sorting and weighing the cocaine concealed inside the cargo.

Authorities released more than half a dozen images from the operation, including a photo of Senad agents and an anti-drug dog inspecting the sacks of sugar.

It wasn't immediately clear where the drugs originated. Unlike nearby Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, Paraguay does not produce cocaine. But in recent years the small landlocked nation has grabbed headlines as a smuggling haven - for cigarettes and luxury goods in addition to drugs - as cartel bosses devise new routes to reach new markets. That has spawned corruption and even violence in a country previously unaccustomed to drug violence.

Some of the biggest cocaine busts in Europe, especially in Antwerp's port in Belgium, have been traced back to Paraguay's bustling river ports where dodgy deliveries can slip under the radar.

In 2020, police in Paraguay found a then-record 2.3 tons of cocaine hidden inside a charcoal shipment, BBC News reported.

"Geographically, Paraguay has a strategic position for organized crime in the sense that we are located near the largest cocaine producers in the world," Francisco Ayala, the spokesperson of Senad, said from the port where authorities inspected the haul of cocaine. "It has a globally recognized river traffic system ... it's perfect."

The historic bust in Paraguay was announced just one day after Ecuador authorities said they found more than six tons of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment headed to Germany. In February, British authorities found more than 12,500 pounds of cocaine hidden in a shipment of the fruit, breaking the record for the biggest single seizure of hard drugs in the country.