14.Montenegro seize 250 kilograms of cocaine

Associated Press June 5, 2014 7:30 AM

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Authorities in Montenegro say they have seized 250 kilograms of cocaine from South America in one of the biggest-ever drug busts in the small Adriatic nation.

Custom authorities said Thursday the cocaine was discovered Wednesday in the southern port of Bar on a ship carrying bananas from Ecuador to neighboring Albania. They say the drugs were hidden under the wooden floor of a container, packed in more than 200 packages.

Authorities say cocaine was of "high purity" with an estimated value of 12.5 million euros.

Montenegro and other Balkan countries are a major transit route for drug smuggling from South America and the Middle East toward Western Europe.