Spanish police make record cocaine bust in Algeciras port

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police have made a record cocaine seizure, finding nearly 9 tonnes of the drug hidden among boxes of bananas in a shipping container at the southern port of Algeciras, the customs office said on Wednesday.

The container was imported by a Colombian company on a ship coming from the Colombian port of Turbo, a customs statement said.

The stash was the largest ever found in a single shipping container in Europe, it said. Six people had been arrested in relation to the find. Two were detained in Lyon, France, one in Algeciras and three in Malaga.

Customs did not say when the bust was made though the shipment was last inspected by police on Sunday, according to the statement.

The operation followed a bust in December of 6 tonnes of cocaine also in Algeciras, the Mediterranean's largest port and a trans-shipment hub used by firms to unload cargo and redistribute it in Europe or the Middle East.

(Reporting by Paul Day, Editing by Julien Toyer and Angus MacSwan)