Bolivia Seizes Cocaine Worth $450 Million

Bolivian Interior Minister Eduardo del Castillo stated that "the police managed to seize more than 7.2 tons of cocaine with a market value of nearly half a billion US dollars before it was transported to Belgium, in the second-largest seizure in the country's history." He mentioned in a press conference, "If we consider the price of these substances in the destination country, we are talking about an impact on drug trafficking exceeding $451 million." The minister added that the person responsible for selling this drug shipment fled the country to the United States and blamed the U.S. Attorney's Office for leaking information to the media. The operation took place in an area on the border with Chile, where the drugs were hidden in two trucks transporting scrap iron for export to Europe via Chilean ports on the Pacific.