Drug smugglers will not run out of ways to sneak their supply across the border. Gone are the days of simply taping it to their body and praying a pat down doesn't catch them. Now, they have resorted to hiding their narcotics inside of tropical fruit. Well, at least that's what these smugglers tried to do. Police in Portugal and Spain recently seized over 1,600 pounds of cocaine hidden inside of fresh pineapples at the port of Lisbon.
According to Business Insider, nine gang members were arrested for transporting the substance from South America in the innocent looking fruits. Police finding these illegal fruits in shipping containers is the conclusion of an ongoing investigation by Spain and Portugal that began back in April 2017. Along with the pineapple discovery, authorities also dismantled a lab where the cocaine was being cut with additives. Police reports indicate that two hydraulic presses, three packaging machines, and over 400,000 Euros in cash were also found during these raids.
Don't think these smugglers just tossed some baggies into some hollowed out pineapples either. A press release from the Spanish Interior Ministry stated that the cocaine was covered in a yellow wax to resemble the inside of the fruit even when it was cut open. The operation was led by two Colombian brothers who had laboratories located near the Spanish capital of Madrid. The cocaine was being transported from storage facilities in Barcelona to these labs every 15-20 days.
Incredibly, this isn't the first time pineapples have been used to smuggle some blow across the Spanish border. Back in 2014, Spanish police seized an insane 2.5 tons. Then again, in 2015, they seized another 4,440 pounds of the white stuff. No word if these were all committed by the same gang, but it does pose a another question. What the hell did they do with all the insides of those pineapples?
