THE HAGUE: Dutch customs have seized more than 1.6 tonnes of cocaine, hidden in shipments of bananas, cocoa beans and cement in Rotterdam harbour, the public prosecutor’s office said Wednesday.

The smuggled drugs, with an estimated street value of 127 million euros ($143 million) were stashed in three containers that arrived in Europe’s largest port.

“The first container came from Ecuador and were loaded with bananas destined for a company in Barendrecht,” just outside Rotterdam, prosecutors said.

“The drugs in the second container were found in a load of cocoa beans, also from Ecuador but which had been shipped through Colombia and then came via Antwerp,” the statement said. A third container, loaded with cement destined for Portugal, had five sports bags filled with drugs.