More than eight tonnes of cocaine, hidden in a container of bananas from Ecuador, have been seized in the port of Rotterdam, Dutch prosecutors said today, in the country’s biggest drug seizure to date.

The eight tons of drugs, with an estimated market value of €600 million, were seized on July 13, but the operation was not disclosed earlier due to ongoing investigations.

“On July 13, customs authorities made the largest drug seizure ever made in the port of Rotterdam,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“A total of 8,064 packets of cocaine – weighing one kilogram each – were found in twelve pallets of bananas,” prosecutors said, adding that the drugs were destroyed.

The container had arrived in Rotterdam via Panama.

“Once again we have succeeded (…) in dealing a serious blow to the drug traffickers in the port,” Rotterdam customs director Peter van Buijtenen said, describing the seizure as “huge”.

Dutch customs seized more than 29,702 kilograms of drugs in the first half of 2023, more than the same period last year (22,009 kilograms), according to figures released by authorities in July.

More than half of the seized shipments contained less than 100 kilograms of drugs, the government said at the time.

The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the countries to which the largest quantities of drugs arrive in Europe, with shipments coming mainly from Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. In recent years, Ecuador – a country located between Colombia and Peru – has been hit by a wave of violence attributed to drug-trafficking gangs.

The announcement of the seizure comes the day after the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, one of the candidates for the presidency of Ecuador, known for his revelations in corruption cases. Last week, Villavicencio reported receiving threats against himself and members of his campaign team, allegedly from the jailed leader of a drug-trafficking gang.