Bags of cocoa beans were used to smuggle drugs into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Four Saudi men were arrested as a result of the operation, which uncovered a huge quantity of drugs, including 8.7 million Captagon pills, 38Kg of hash, 75,855 amphetamine tablets and a smaller assortment of other pills.
It’s not the first time cocoa beans have been used to smuggle drugs. In August last year, we reported how 390KG of cocaine was uncovered at the port in Amsterdam, with the drug being hidden inside sacks of cocoa beans.
Containers of large bags of cocoa beans offer an attractive way to stash drugs, and the natural odour of cocoa assists in masking the smell from trained sniffer dogs.