Police in Ecuador have seized more than a tonne of cocaine hidden among tins of tuna in a shipping container bound for the UK.

The suspicious packages seen stacked up in these images were identified by a sniffer dog during an inspection at the Port of Guayaquil early on 23rd January.

The massive bust is the result of an organised police activity called Operation ‘Oscuridad’, or ‘Darkness’.

The National Police of Ecuador said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “In a seaports in Guayaquil in the early hours of this Monday, the Police with its special anti-drug units, during an inspection operation, found 970 brick-type packages in a container contaminated with one tonne, 58 kilogrammes, and 131 grammes of cocaine.

“The deputy commander of Zone 8, Col. Fausto Mino Valencia, and the head of anti-narcotics investigation, Lt. Col. Darwin Sangoquiza Cabay, provided details of Operation ‘Oscuridad’, carried out by agents of the Ports and Airports Investigation Unit (UIPA) and the Regional Centre for Canine Training (CRAC).

“It was clarified that UIPA and CRAC agents, in their frequent anti-drug work based on analytical techniques and risk profiling, had separated for a pre-shipment inspection a container with the acronym MSMU1603833 loaded with tuna, which was ready to be boarded a merchant ship bound for Great Britain.

“During the inspection, a drug detection dog named Hercules gave an alert and a positive indication for drugs, so the container was opened and 13 jute sacks were found among the export tuna containing inside the 929 packages, which, when subjected to the approved preliminary identification test, tested positive for cocaine.

“Lastly, it has been learned that so far in 2022, in Zone 8, one tonne and 357 kilogrammes of cocaine that were destined for European markets have been seized from drug trafficking organisations.”

The National Police did not reveal which British port the shipment was destined for.