Portugal’s Tax and Customs Authority (AT) seized 240 kilos of cocaine in the Porto of Sines, SetĂșbal district, concealed in a container from the American continent and destined for another European country, it revealed on Monday.
In a statement, AT explained that the Sines Customs Delegation of SetĂșbal Customs made the seizure. The drugs were concealed “in a conventional load of lubricating oils (…) The legitimate cargo was packed in a 20-foot container, which was unloaded in Sines where it would be transhipped to another ship and transported to its final destinationâ.
But routine checking detected a sports bag hidden between the oil drums – and the rest is the reason for this news story⊠AT explains this ruse of using a legitimate load to get a consignment of drugs to its intended destination is known as the ârip-off methodâ.
Someone will have been aware of âwhere to lookâ when the container ship reached its final port, and the sports bag would have been âquickly extractedâ.
