ZAGREB, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Croatian police have seized 100 kg of cocaine in one of the most complex operations of this kind in the country's history, Croatian news agency HINA reported on Thursday.
The cocaine was seized in the seaport Rijeka in the Adriatic Sea, where the drug was hidden in a shipping container with 20 tonnes of mixed metal waste.
According to Croatian police who have busted the drug smuggling ring, 100 kg of cocaine was bought in Panama for 300,000 euros (around 370,000 U.S. dollars), and it was meant to be sold in European Union through Croatia.
In order to hide their operations, the smugglers used companies based in Croatia and organized the arrival of containers with low-value goods, from South America to Europe.
Police have reported on its website that so far eight people have been arrested, six Croats, one Spanish national and another national from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Netherlands (dual nationality).
Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic, said on Thursday in Brussels that this was one of the most complex such actions in the history of Croatian police and seven countries participated in it.
Along with Croatian police, the police from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Panama were also involved, as well as American agency DEA and Europol.
According to the Croatian Interior Ministry, about 150 kg of marijuana and 69,000 boxes of smuggled cigarettes have been seized earlier within the same police operation.
The estimated market price of the seized drug is between 21,000 euros and 33,000 euros per kg.
