DRUG SMUGGLING
Keith Ditcham, acting director of the Organised Crime and Policing Research Group run by RUSI, said: “Most cocaine from Latin America comes over in bulk in container shipments, and the smugglers need a cover load, and that cover load reflects the trade exports coming to Europe from Colombia. There is a good trade of bananas between Latin America and the UK, so therefore bananas are the most obvious cover load. Traffickers don’t want to use an expensive commodity.” With bananas being such a common smuggling companion for cocaine, is this not now something the authorities are wise to? “Yes it’s a red flag,” said Ditcham. “Officers will be well aware that this fruit is being used as cover to smuggle cocaine. But they have to use intelligence, they can’t search every consignment.”
