iustitia.bg
As part of an international operation last fall, Hungarian authorities seized a record 522 kilograms of cocaine originating from South America and transiting through Germany on its way to Hungary, the police reported at a press conference on Tuesday.
Máté Csupor, head of the Department for Combating Drug Crime at the National Bureau of Investigation of the Standby Police (KR NNI), said the black market value of the seized drugs is 15 billion forints (42.3 million euros). This is a historic drug bust, as the authorities have never before seized such a large quantity in Hungary, writes police.hu.
Photo: police.hu
The cocaine was hidden among a shipment of bananas. The cargo was shipped from Ecuador last year. Máté Csupor stated that Hungarian authorities were notified by French customs in November 2025 that a container shipment bound for Hungary contained hidden drugs.
The department head explained that
the containers arrived at the port of Bremen on November 17, from where they departed a few days later: six containers were loaded onto a train bound for Hungary, while fourteen were transported by truck to Romania.
To investigate the matter, the KR NNI launched a joint, cross-border operation with its German, Czech, and Slovak counterparts, as well as the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).
Although previous X-ray scans had shown no signs of anything suspicious, Hungarian investigators did not give up, and after inspecting 7,000 boxes of bananas at the Csepel port in Budapest, they finally found the 438 blocks of cocaine wrapped in plastic film.
Máté Csupor, head of the Department for Combating Drug Crime at the KR NNI (center), at the press conference held at the Police Administration Center in Budapest on June 2, 2026. Next to him are Thomas Rapp, liaison officer of the German Customs Criminological Office (left), and József Kalecz, deputy head of the Law Enforcement Department at Hungary’s Tax and Customs Administration (right). Photo: MTI/Bruzák Noémi
As Máté Csupor explained, the work did not end there: the National Police Headquarters, the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), and the KR NNI established a joint task force, which resulted in the seizure of another cocaine shipment in the spring.
A total of 72 kilograms of cocaine, with a black market value of 2 billion forints (5.6 million euros), was found in a container returning from Arad, Romania.
The department head stated that an international investigation is underway to apprehend the perpetrators. However, since these are South American criminal organizations, capturing the perpetrators is an extremely complex process, he added.
Máté Csupor also noted that international container-based cocaine trafficking has doubled in recent years.
Drug shipments arriving in Europe from Ecuador and Colombia are no longer confined to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp but are also reaching the southern and central part of the continent.
József Kalecz, Deputy Head of the Law Enforcement Department at NAV, reported that significant equipment upgrades have been implemented to ensure effective detection, including the establishment of the X-ray Image Analysis Center, and that artificial intelligence is now also being utilized in their work.
He explained that there has been a significant shift in criminal methods, which makes it more difficult to identify crimes. Today, even illegal shipments are accompanied by documents that comply with the law.
Thomas Rapp, liaison officer of the German Customs Criminological Office, stated at the press conference:
experience shows that the route of illegal shipments follows that of legal ones.
The largest quantities of drugs arrive in Europe by sea, then continue onto the continent via ports. Detection, however, is extremely difficult, as millions of containers arrive at German ports each year—7.8 million in Hamburg alone in 2024. For this reason, German authorities are attempting to detect illegal shipments in a targeted manner based on risk profiles, he explained.
Via MTI, police.hu; Featured image: police.hu
The post Authorities Seize Record Cocaine Haul Hidden Among Bananas appeared first on Hungary Today.
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