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Believe it or not, this black tile is cocaine. It’s coke that has been chemically concocted to look like it’s part of exotic hardwood flooring. Somebody went to a lot of trouble trying to smuggle it out of South America. Now they are in a lot of trouble. Let me tell you about it. The Mob Reporter here with news of an ingenious narco plot to move almost nine tonnes of coke into Europe that failed when it was snagged at a border checkpoint in the Andes Mountains. And stick around, because this case comes with something special for my suspicious viewers who always ask: What do cops really do with all that coke after they seize it? Well, they burn it — in this case at least — under the watchful eye of the United Nations. ** PLEASE TAP THE THANKS BUTTON TO SEND ME A TIP. It was New Year’s Eve — Dec. 31, 2023 — when the dope was found, cleverly hidden in a shipment of wooden floor tiles. The day before, a heavy transport truck loaded down with wood for export lumbered into the customs checkpoint at Tambo Quemado, between Bolivia and Chile. It was supposed to take it to a seaport in northern Chile, where the wood was scheduled to be shipped by sea, through the Panama Canal to Belgium, and then to the Netherlands, where it would have been worth half a billion dollars, authorities said. This wasn’t the typical way drugs are hidden in wood; typically powder, crystals or bricks are jammed into hollow wood boards then glued shut. This was something else entirely, something far more devious. This was chemically altered to make to look like a rubbery tile underpad beneath each plank or tile. It’s clever camouflage. Bolivian authorities were very specific about how much cocaine they found: 8,776 kilograms and 200 grams. It’s a lot for one load, even in South America. It was a big enough deal for the president of Bolivia to announce the seizure calling it the largest coke find in the country’s history. Four were arrested. Three are Bolivian and one Colombian. The Colombian was the main guy, authorities allege, responsible for mixing the cocaine into its unique form. He was described as an engineer who specializes in resins. He was called the “big shot” in this case. Under arrest alongside him were the truck driver, the alleged owner of the shipment, and the owner of the Bolivian wood export company. The government didn’t want all that tempting dope hanging about long. Just four days after announcing the stunning find they hauled it to a remote field in a mountainous suburb, stacked it all up again — and torched it. Transparency is a great policy and process to follow, especially because the Bolivian government needed to show the world it was a tough-on-narcos regime active in the war on drugs. In September, you see, Bolivia was named and shamed by U.S. President Joe Biden ; the U.S. declared Bolivia a major drug producing country that failed to meet its obligations under international counternarcotics agreements. That came after Bolivia’s former president accused the current administration of protecting narco networks. It's lucky for them the narcos lumbered right into it. CREDITS: Music is Crystals by Silent Partner // Invisible Enemy by Jeremy Black. TK TK ~ The Mob Reporter is a professional journalist bringing you real-life mob, police and true crime news, investigative journalism and educational videos. ~ PLEASE SUBSCRIBE: ~ Please subscribe to my other channels: • Crime Watch: • Crime in Italy: ~ To read my written journalism: Please like, share, comment and subscribe. Thanks for watching! -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please watch: “Genius jewel heist wrecked by sloppy mistakes“: -~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
