Asuncion: Paraguayan police said Friday they seized about 850 kilograms (1,900 pounds) of cocaine hidden in sacks of rice bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The drugs were hidden aboard a ship set to sail from a private Asuncion port to Rio de la Plata, where it would have been loaded onto a transoceanic vessel.
A scorpion was printed on each sack of cocaine, said to represent a drug trafficking group led by Brazilian Jorge Rafat Toumani, police said.
The sole suspect that police detained was a customs agent.
Toumani, a fugitive from justice, was sentenced in Brazil to 47 years in prison for money laundering and drug trafficking.
Landlocked Paraguay, wedged between Brazil and Argentina, is a key shipping point for drugs coming from the Andean region -- especially cocaine -- heading to Brazil or the European market via Africa.
AFP
First Published: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 08:06
