In the country's biggest-ever drug bust, police in Montenegro say they have seized over 1 ton of cocaine hidden in a shipment of bananas.
Officers discovered the cocaine, which was divided into 1,250 packages, in Mojanovici, a village near the capital, police said on Twitter on August 27.
AKCIJA "187":⬇️@PolicijaCG u saradnji sa @CgUprava zaplijenila 1⃣.2⃣0⃣5⃣ pakovanja opojne droge kokain u mjestu Mojanovići, u Zeti, ukupne težine preko 1⃣ tone.Droga je pronađena u pošiljci banana.Dvije osobe lišene su slobode.@MupCg pic.twitter.com/r4bA5lAKcW
— Uprava policije Crne Gore (@PolicijaCG) August 27, 2021
Montenegrin media reported that police blocked off a broad area during the search operation. Police said two people were arrested but did not provide any details.
The seizure demonstrated “power and determination” in fighting organized crime and Montenegro's reliability as an international partner, police said.
"What a feat of Montenegrin police. We are doing what we have pledged: Montenegro will not be a country of crime," Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said in a tweet.
The small Adriatic nation of some 620,000 people needs to root out organized crime and corruption to move forward in its bid to join the European Union.
Montenegro already is a NATO member.