German supermarket finds 7-million-euro cocaine stash among bananas

By Olivia Logan

Employees at an unnamed supermarket in North Rhine-Westphalia have discovered seven million euros worth of cocaine among packages of bananas.

NRW shop discovers 7 million euros of cocaine among bananas

Employees at a discount supermarket in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, have discovered 95 kilogrammes of cocaine among boxes of bananas.

According to police, the incident was not isolated. Cocaine packages are said to have turned up in multiple cities across the German federal state, including Duisburg, Krefeld, Viersen, Heinsberg and Neuss.

"The investigators are working on the assumption that the food discounter was not the correct recipient for the delivery, but received the goods in error," police in Mönchengladbach wrote in a press statement.

Not the first cocaine-banana rodeo in Germany

The cocaine-banana-German supermarket discovery is just the latest of several in recent years. In April, employees at seven branches of Lidl in Berlin and four in Brandenburg found cocaine stashed among crates of bananas which were imported from South Africa. Police determined the drugs to be worth millions of euros.

Additionally, in March 2023, a fruit wholesaler in Groß Kreutz, Brandenburg found 1,2 tonnes of cocaine smuggled among bananas, followed by another 660 kilos and 500 kilos months later in September.

Thumb image credit: Mickis-Fotowelt / Shutterstock.com

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Olivia Logan

Editor at IamExpat Media

Editor for Germany at IamExpat Media. Olivia first came to Germany in 2013 to work as an Au Pair. Since studying English Literature and German in Scotland, Freiburg and Berlin she has worked as a features journalist and news editor.Read more

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