Portuguese police intercept cocaine shipment to Spain


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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portuguese police say they have discovered 430 kilograms (950 pounds) of cocaine concealed inside a banana shipment from Latin America.

Police said Tuesday the highly pure cocaine that was on its way to a gang in Spain had a street value of around 15 million euros ($17 million).

Police Inspector Vitor Ananias told reporters Tuesday the 1-kilo (2.2-pound) packets of cocaine were hidden beneath bananas that were packed into boxes inside two shipping containers.

He says police were acting on a tip-off from Spanish police when they found the cocaine Jan. 16 at Portugal's Atlantic port of Leixoes.

Spanish police said they believe Galician and Colombian gangs based in Spain brought the drug from Ecuador.

Spanish police arrested eight people from Spain, Colombia and Ecuador.

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