The treasure at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
Last week, while working on protecting the Baltic Sea underwater infrastructure, Polish deep-sea divers discovered something unusual on the seabed in the Gulf of Gdańsk: more than 100 kilogrammes of cocaine worth an estimated €14.5 million. The joint operation with Europol, the DEA, and Poland's border guard led to the arrest of seven suspects, who now face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
While cocaine is often intercepted at sea, it is typically found aboard drug-smuggling vessels, such as narco-submarines built by traffickers. Another newer way of smuggling called ”parasite smuggling” where drugs are attached to the outside of a ship's hull below the waterline is increasingly used, but difficult to detect.
While last week's find was unusual, other odd seizures have been made in Europe recently, with a tonne of cocaine uncovered in a stone crusher in Luxembourg and seven tonnes found in buried containers beneath a Spanish farm.