SWEDEN SEIZES RECORD COCAINE HAUL

STOCKHOLM, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Swedish customs authorities seized 243 kg
(536 lb) of cocaine hidden in a banana container from Costa Rica, a record
haul for the country with a street value of $126 million, officials said on
Wednesday.

Inspectors in the western port of Gothenburg discovered the cocaine in an
eight-centimetre (three-inch) deep space separated by a dummy wall in the
container. The bananas were unloaded at Gothenburg, and normally such a
container would have been sent back empty.

Customs head of surveillance Frank Ranieli said it was uncertain if the
cocaine had been loaded in Costa Rica.

"The cocaine we have tested was about 81 percent pure and is estimated to
have a street value of about one billion crowns ($126 million)," he told
Reuters.

($17.929 Swedish Crown)