Police Commander In Portugal Who Imported 3 Animal Skin Containers Contained 1.6 Tons Of Cocaine

JAKARTA - Portuguese authorities arrested a police commander and an accomplice suspected of carrying out drug operations that imported three containers of animal skin containing 1.6 tons of cocaine hidden between layers of rotten skin that had not been equalized.

A spokesman for the Judicial Police for the North Region said on Thursday, August 7, the foul smell had made it difficult for the investigation team to remove and weigh the drugs.

The skins were packaged fresh in Latin America and arrived in Portugal after weeks at sea in "very rotting conditions", the spokesman said.

The arrested policeman has undergone a lengthy leave without a salary from the GNR police unit in the city of Fafe in northern Portugal.

Local media said the same officers had led operations to dismantle a large drug network in Fafe two years ago.

The Portuguese police, in collaboration with the US Narcotics Enforcement Agency, found evidence at the port of Leixoes but allowed the containers to be taken and followed them to warehouses in Fafe, where they found other drugs, illegal firearms, and thousands of euros in cash.