Police in four countries have smashed an international drug-trafficking ring in which cocaine was smuggled aboard commercial jet flights.
Colombian police say 30 people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, Jorge Juan Merlo of Spain. He was arrested in the Colombian city of Cali.
Other suspects were nabbed in Australia, Spain, and the United States. Nearly 800 kilograms of cocaine, $200,000 in cash, and cars and cell phones were also seized.
Authorities say the drug ring was centered in Colombia from which cocaine was flown to other countries hidden in luggage aboard regular passenger jets.
Also Thursday, Spanish authorities say they found nearly six tons of cocaine hidden inside a shipment of bananas. Sixteen people were arrested.
Police also confiscated cash, guns and luxury cars in a raid in the southern port of Malaga.
Spain says Dutch criminals were behind the ring in which cocaine from South America was smuggled aboard ships to Portugal, then trucked to Spain and the Netherlands.
