Drugs
© AFP / Hamburg Customs Investigation OfficeThe 4.5 tonne cocaine shipment, with an estimated street value of one billion euros ($1.1 billion), was seized by police in Hamburg
Germany's customs service has intercepted 4.5 tons of cocaine found in a shipping container in Hamburg - the country's largest drug bust to date.

The container was traveling to the Netherlands from Uruguay and was supposed to be full of soybeans. But German customs agents in the port city of Hamburg instead discovered copious amounts of coke inside.

Duffel bags of drugs
© AFP / Hamburg Customs Investigation Office
The drug was compressed into 4,200 packages concealed in more than 200 black duffel bags.

Germany's customs service said the estimated street value of the haul is €1 billion ($1.1 billion).

"This enormous quantity represents the largest single seizure of cocaine in Germany," it confirmed in a statement. The bust easily surpasses the previous record - a 3.8-ton seizure, also in Hamburg, in 2017.