Hungarian authorities have announced the seizure of a record 522 kilograms of cocaine concealed within banana shipments arriving from South America, in what officials described as one of the largest drug interceptions in the country’s history.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mátyás Csupor, head of the Drug Crime Division of Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation (KR NNI), said the confiscated cocaine had an estimated street value of around 15 billion forints.
The shipment originated in Ecuador and was hidden among containers of bananas destined for Hungary via Germany. Hungarian authorities were alerted by French customs officials in November 2025 about a container suspected of carrying narcotics.
According to investigators, the containers arrived at the German port of Bremen on 17 November before continuing their journey into Central Europe. Six containers were transported to Hungary by rail, while 14 others were sent to Romania by truck.
The investigation quickly developed into a multinational operation involving Hungarian, German, Czech and Slovak law enforcement agencies, as well as Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV).
Despite earlier X-ray inspections failing to reveal any suspicious contents, Hungarian investigators continued their search. After examining approximately 7,000 boxes of bananas at the Csepel Free Port in Budapest, officers discovered 438 packages of cocaine wrapped in plastic film.
Authorities said the operation did not end there. A joint task force established by the National Police Headquarters, NAV and the National Bureau of Investigation later uncovered a second shipment during the spring. Investigators found an additional 72 kilograms of cocaine in a container that had returned from Arad, Romania. Officials estimated the street value of that seizure at approximately 2 billion forints.
Csupor said an international investigation remains underway to identify and apprehend those responsible. He noted that the case is linked to South American criminal organizations, making the investigation particularly complex.
Officials also highlighted broader trends in international drug trafficking. According to investigators, container-based cocaine smuggling has doubled in recent years, with shipments from Ecuador and Colombia increasingly reaching ports in Southern and Central Europe rather than relying exclusively on traditional entry points such as Rotterdam and Antwerp.
Deputy Head of NAV’s Law Enforcement Directorate József Kalecz said customs authorities have significantly upgraded their detection capabilities, including the establishment of a specialized X-ray Image Analysis Centre and the introduction of artificial intelligence tools to assist investigations.
He added that traffickers have adapted their methods, often accompanying illegal shipments with seemingly legitimate documentation, making detection more challenging.
Thomas Rapp, liaison officer for the German Customs Criminal Investigation Service, noted that illicit trafficking routes frequently mirror legal trade routes. Most cocaine enters Europe by sea before being distributed inland through major transport networks.
Rapp emphasized the scale of the challenge facing authorities, pointing out that German ports process millions of containers annually. Hamburg alone handled approximately 7.8 million containers in 2024, forcing customs agencies to rely heavily on risk-based targeting and intelligence-led inspections to identify suspicious cargo.
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