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Brazilian police seize 3.8 tons of pure cocaine

Other News Materials 7 February 2009 07:13 (UTC +04:00)

Brazil's Federal Police seized on Friday morning 3.8 tons of pure cocaine on a ship bound for Romania in the southern Parana state's Paranagua Port, Xinhua reported.

The police said the drug was found hidden inside five containers with lumber which belonged to a company in Sao Paulo. The company's name was not disclosed.

It is the second largest cocaine haul in Brazil's history. The largest took place in Tocantins state in 1994, when 7.5 tons of cocaine was seized.

The Federal Police said it is carefully analyzing the cocaine to determine its origin.

The drug, estimated to be worth 500 million to 700 million U.S. dollars, has been taken to the Federal Police Superintendence in Curitiba, Parana state's capital city for incineration.

Federal Police Chief Wagner Mesquita de Oliveira said drug could be transformed into 26 tons of ready-for-consumption drug due to its pureness.

The police operation was carried out with Interpol support, the Federal Police said.

Last Thursday, a similar shipment of 1.2 tons of drug was seized in Romania, which led Brazilian and Romanian police to monitor the drug trafficking gang.

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