Custom authorities in Belgium seize 10 tonnes of cocaine worth more than €750 million ahead of the holiday season

Customs officials in Belgium have intercepted 10 tonnes of cocaine on Antwerp, worth more than €750 million ($795 million).

Authorities in Belgium and the Netherlands will work to seize record amounts of cocaine as part of the ‘White Christmas’ operations. The substance is smuggled in through the Belgian city of Antwerp.

The director-general of Belgium’s customs and excise agency, Kristian Vanderwaeren, told VRT news that ‘White Christmas’ is the time of year when white powder falls heavily from the sky.

A week ago, authorities made another significant narcotics raid when they discovered 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in an Ecuadorian banana cargo.

Last Wednesday, another 4.8 tonnes in a second load of bananas was found in a shipment from Panama. A third similar shipment being sent to the Netherlands via Antwerp was hiding a further 1.3 tonnes.

The total cocaine seizures for this year are expected to surpass last year’s figure of 90 tonnes that worth €6 billion ($6.35 billion).