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The Dominican Republic has seized 9.5 tons of cocaine in a shipment of bananas.
The drugs found on a ship that had arrived from Guatemala were bound for Belgium, authorities say.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they have seized about 9.5 tons of cocaine found in a shipment of bananas, making it the largest drug seizure in the country's history.
The drugs, worth $250m (£196m), were found in a shipment that arrived at Caucedo, the country's main seaport, in the capital Santo Domingo.
The shipment was shipped from Guatemala and was destined for Belgium, according to Carlos Devers, a spokesman for the Dominican Republic's anti-drug agency.
Ten suspects had been arrested, he said at a press conference: "Early investigations indicate that a container of bananas arrived from Guatemala. "Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that was to be sent on a ship to Belgium."
He said it was the largest seizure in the country, beating a seizure of 2.6 tonnes, also in Caudedo, in 2006.
Dominican Republic authorities have seized about 47 tons of drugs so far this year.
InSight Crime, an institute that analyzes organized crime, said record seizures this year suggest the Caribbean is re-emerging as a major trafficking route from Colombia to Europe, where consumption is estimated to have more than doubled between 2011 and last year. .
"As demand grows, traffickers are stepping up efforts to meet it, turning to the Caribbean as an ideal conduit for smuggling cocaine into Europe," InSight Crime said in an analysis in late November, noting that major centers of Dominican transport offers wide opportunities for traffickers.
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