Police say the drug bust took place in a warehouse in El Callao, Peru’s largest port.
Peruvian authorities say they seized 2.3 tons of cocaine disguised as ceramic tiles destined for Turkey via a growing maritime route for illicit drugs.
The drug bust took place Friday at a warehouse in Peru’s largest port, El Callao, just outside the capital Lima, police said in a statement Monday.
“This is the first incident we know of [in which the cargo was in] Peruvian ports and the final destination was Turkey. Usually we are aware of ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France,” said El Callao police chief Colonel Luis Angel Bolanos.
At a press conference on Monday, police displayed the cocaine, which was attached to rubber plates to appear as hundreds of ceramic tiles packed in wooden boxes inside a shipping container.
Bolanos said the seized cocaine was worth “at least $20 million”.
The Andean nation seized a record 86.4 tons of drugs and illegal substances last year, including 28 tons of cocaine hydrochloride, police records show.
Peru and nearby Colombia are among the world’s largest producers of cocaine and the coca leaf from which it is made, according to the United Nations.
According to Peruvian authorities, production in Peru has grown mainly along the border with Brazil in the Ucayali region, where the coca leaf harvest has increased nearly sixfold in two years to reach 10,229 hectares (25,276 acres) by 2021.