[NYTr] Portuguese Seize 9.4 Tons of Cocaine in Venez'n Frozen Octopus Shipment

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Bloomberg - Jan 7, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a.Mq8sZwb_tk&refer=latin_america


Portugal Seizes 9.4 Tons of Cocaine in Frozen Venezuela Octopus

By Matthew Walter and Andre Soliani

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Portuguese authorities seized 9.4 metric tons of
cocaine hidden in a shipment of frozen octopus from Venezuela,
according to a statement on the Web site of Portugal's judicial police.

The drugs were discovered in a container of 600 boxes on Dec. 22 at the
port of Lisbon, according to the statement. About a third of the boxes
had a frozen solution made up of a mixture of cocaine and octopus
traces.

The shipment was bound for distribution in Spain and elsewhere in
Europe, the statement said. Police made the seizure after a joint,
three-year investigation between Portuguese and Spanish authorities.
Five suspects have been detained in Spain, and two are being held in
Portugal.

Jorge Ferreira, coordinator of Portugal's drug trafficking directorate,
said it was the largest amount of cocaine ever seized at the port of
Lisbon, according to Agence France-Presse.