French authorities have made "one of their largest cocaine seizures in years" finding 1.393 tons of the drug in plastic bags hidden in the tires of an 8x8 Dakar support truck belonging to the Spanish Epsilon Team.
As OppositeLock author BORSUQ brought to our attention today, "two members of the Spanish based Epsilon Team, a 27 year veteran of Dakar, were arrested in France after 1,5t of cocaine was found in their vehicle." Three other Spaniards have also been arrested as alleged international drug dealers.
The truck rolled off a ship in the French port of Le Havre straight from Valparaiso, Chile last Wednesday. Apparently it only took a few hours for French port authorities to smell something shady and start busting heads.
Euro Weekly News says the cocaine is believed to have originated in Bolivia and Colombia. Insight Crime says that drug traffic has not been a major issue in Chile in the past, but the nation's relevance in international narcotics trade has increased recently.
Euro Weekly News also specified that "the truck driver, Xavi Mora, was arrested near Normandy along with another man, only identified as J. B." and "team coordinator David Olivares was detained at his home in Barcelona" while Bulgarian police locked down two of their own nationals in connection with the event.
Chilean Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick told Latercera that five people have been arrested so far, and that more perpetrators are still sought in the ongoing investigation against what he described as an "international network" of drug trade.
Epsilon provides support trucks to racing teams all over the world, and they regularly move immense amounts of equipment over all kinds of borders. Authorities really have their work cut out for them getting to the bottom of what could be a very tangled web of illicit alliances and dirty deeds.
While getting over 2,000 pounds of blow off the streets is a win for public safety, this incident is unfortunate ammo for those who would shut down the Dakar Rally. Let's hope police nip this issue in the bud before too much fear arises around the running of an international off-road race.
Hat tip to BORSUQ!
Image: Epsilon, Daniel/Flickr
Over 1 Ton Of Cocaine Stashed In Dakar Truck Tires Seized By Police