VALLETTA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Over 300 kg of cocaine were discovered by customs inspectors at Malta Freeport, the biggest ever drug haul in Malta's history, Malta's customs department revealed on Thursday.
The drugs were found in six large sacks containing several bags of cocaine each. They were hidden in cans that were supposed to be carrying pineapples, on a container ship from Ecuador that stopped in Malta on its way to Spain.
Following a risk analysis performed by the customs department, the container ship was considered as a potential high risk.
The customs said that whilst a purity analysis is still to be conducted, it is estimated this haul has a value of tens of millions of euro, possibly 20 million euros (21.5 million U.S. dollars), with one gram being worth around 70 euros.
Malta police have launched an investigation and a magisterial enquiry is also under way.
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a tweet congratulated the workers involved in the finding. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars)
