The Slovak authorities seized 163.8 kilograms of pure cocaine worth 1.64 billion Slovak koruny (72.4 million dollars) in wine bottles in what was the country's largest-ever narcotics seizure, Slovak police Vice-President Michal Kopcik said Wednesday, according to dpa. "I think this is one of the most top-quality and expensive wines that have ever made it to Slovakia," he said at a press conference televised by the TA3 news channel. Each of the 420 bottles contained a syrupy crystalline liquid that yielded 390.7 grams of pure cocaine with a street value of 3.9 million Slovak koruny, he said. The seized amount could have been cut into a total of 546,000 street one-gram doses that usually contain 30 milligrams of the substance, he said. "It is so far the largest amount of cocaine seized on the Slovak territory", up from 10 kilograms captured in 1998, Kopcik said. The Slovak authorities had seized just 13.862 kilograms of cocaine during the last ten years. The authorities discovered the contraband at a customs storage in the southern-Slovak Dunajska Streda district last week, the official said. They however declined to reveal whether they had followed the shipment for some reason or discovered it by accident. "So far nobody has been charged," Kopcik said, adding that the seizure was "an activity of Slovak Republic's (security) units". The consignment originated in Argentina and passed through several south American countries before arriving in Slovakia through Germany's Hamburg port, officials said. "We suppose it was intended for the European Union market, but not for the Slovak one," Jozef Dudas, the head of Slovakia's Customs Criminal Bureau, told reporters. He said that the smugglers already "had problems with importing goods" other than narcotics to the European Union but not to Slovakia. The officials declined to provide further details citing the ongoing investigation. The cocaine is to be destroyed after further expert examination, Kopcik said. "We will probably burn it," he concluded.
