Police impound $41 million worth of cocaine disguised as charcoal

A joint operation by Irish and Dutch authorities has led to the impounding of cocaine disguised as charcoal.

CNN reports that the cocaine was found inside two shipping containers from South America that arrived at the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

X-ray scans and police sniffer dogs detected that there were drugs in some of the bags in the container.

Upon further checks, 2,000 bags of charcoal were retrieved, some of which the cocaine was hidden in.

A statement from the Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) confirmed the presence of cocaine but said it will take time to extract the drugs from the charcoal.

"It will take a number of days and perhaps longer for FSI to extract the cocaine from the product within which it is concealed.”

Meanwhile, the Police said the full shipment of cocaine found has a street value of around $41.5 million.

The Commissioner of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, John O'Driscoll, empasised the need for international collaboration to clamp down on drug smuggling.

"This is a significant development in the Garda Síochána's effort to disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups suspected to be involved in the importation of cocaine and other drugs into Ireland," he said, as quoted by CNN.