It's in the bananas: Portugal finds another big cocaine haul

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - For the second time in 12 months, Portuguese police discovered a large stash of cocaine concealed in a shipment of bananas from Latin America.

This time the haul was 825 kilograms with a street value of more than 30 million euros ($33 million). Last year, the seizure was 430 kilograms and worth around 15 million euros ($17 million).

Cocaine hidden in bananas from South America is not uncommon. Over the past year, authorities in the United States, China and Germany have found large quantities of cocaine concealed in banana shipments.

Portuguese detectives said Wednesday the highly pure cocaine was found in recent days inside boxes in northern Portugal. They say it was heading to other European countries. They declined to provide further details, saying the investigation is continuing.