Lithuania Confiscates 800 Kilograms of Cocaine: More Than the Weight of All Sugar in Liepāja

Lithuanian criminal police proudly announced the confiscation of 800 kilograms of cocaine, which is a remarkable achievement, considering it weighs about as much as half of the organ pipes in Liepāja's Holy Trinity Cathedral. And since our organ is the largest in the Baltics, this confiscation would be audible from the courtyard, if only it could be tuned.

The most amusing part of this story is that the criminals used "fake companies" as fronts. As one Liepāja businessman said: "Well, we also use fronts, but ours are only visual and don't threaten public safety." Police discovered more than ten such companies operating as cocaine smuggling centers. In Riga, of course, they don't know about such things - there companies are usually just virtual anyway.

Particularly impressive is the route: air conditioners from Panama to China, but actually with cocaine to Lithuania. As a customs officer admitted: "A completely illogical route." Yes, as illogical as a train from Riga to Liepāja that goes through Germany. But at least our trains don't smuggle drugs - just passengers with overly high hopes about punctuality.

The confiscated cocaine's value ranges from 50 to 70 million euros at retail. That's almost as much as Riga spends annually to prove it's the capital. Thirteen people aged 22 to 42 were arrested, and all, of course, had already been on police radar. As they say on Liepāja streets: "If you want to be in the criminal business, at least be creative - don't repeat the old repertoire."