There was a Dutch destination: The largest quantity of cocaine seized in Costa Rica's history

5,048 packets of a pound [1 kg] were found on Saturday in a shipping container that would transport decorative flowers to the Netherlands.

The suspicious container had attracted attention, and after detailed internal inspection, suitcases with cocaine were discovered.

The shipment was due off Sunday to the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

Authorities said they have detained a citizen from 46-year-old Costa Rica who was in charge of deploying the container, but it is taught that the suspect has no previous criminal precedents.

Costa Rica is considered one of the transit countries of solid drugs produced in Latin America and then traded in the US or Europe.

Last year, the country's police interventions led to the seizure of a total of 31.1 tonnes of cocaine.

In Holland another high - drug host country was caught in the same year at 38 tons of cocaine, or 50 percent more than in 2018.

According to Dutch police, only a quarter of the amount of cocaine that reaches the port manages to be discovered.