18 massive drug busts
A clip from video posted online by Italy's Financial Guard military force shows an agent cutting into a paper drum as thousands of Captagon tablets pour out, following a massive amphetamine seizure at the port in Salerno, Italy.
The "Guardia di Finanza" of Naples said on July 1, 2020 that it was "the biggest seizure of amphetamines in the world."
17,500 pounds of cocaine - 2016
Many know about Pablo Escobar and his infamous drug trade in the 1970s and 80s. But there have been plenty of other huge drug busts throughout the world, including, recently, in Escobar's home country of Colombia.
On May 16, 2016, Colombian police seized 17,500 pounds of cocaine from the Clan Usuga gang. The drugs, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were found on a banana farm, where the police discovered hundreds of cocaine bricks. The drug bust was the largest seizure in Colombia's history.
95 kilograms of cocaine, 2016
Canadians Isabelle Lagacé, 28, and Melina Roberge, 22, were arrested for allegedly smuggling 95 kilograms of cocaine on cruise ship docked in Australia. The two documented their months-long voyage on Instagram before they were arrested.
Drugs hidden in luggage
The suspects reportedly hid the estimated $30 million worth of cocaine in their luggage under some towels. The duo could face life in prison for what police believe is one of the biggest seizures of its kind in Australia.
22.6 million amphetamine pills - 2014
On April 14, 2014, six people were arrested in Saudi Arabia for allegedly smuggling 22.6 million amphetamine pills hidden inside coils of barbed wire and rolls of plastic. The pills were valued at $267 million.
11,000 pounds of cannabis and 2,242 pounds of cocaine - 2016
The longest drug-smuggling tunnel ever was discovered on April 20, 2016, spanning the U.S.-Mexico border. The roughly half-mile-long tunnel was discovered by Border Patrol agents, who seized about 11,000 pounds of cannabis and 2,242 pounds of cocaine from smugglers.
30 tons of Captagon material - 2010
In 2010, Turkish and Saudi authorities seized 30 tons of ingredients for Captagon pills, which would have been enough to make 200 million psycho-stimulant tablets with a street value of $1.6 billion.
13.8 metric tons of cocaine - 1984
No drug-bust list would be complete without a Pablo Escobar appearance. On March 10, 1984, Colombian national police, along with the U.S. DEA, raided Escobar's Tranquilandia complex. A drug-making laboratory was destroyed, and 13.8 metric tons of cocaine -- worth $1.2 billion -- was seized.
92 tons of opium - 2009
On May 23, 2009, U.S. military and Afghan troops seized 92 tons of opium poppy seeds from a Taliban stronghold. The destruction of the drug stash was reportedly "severely" disruptive to Taliban forces, as drug trade was a primary source of income.
4.4 tons of MDMA - 2008
In 2008, Australian Customs seized 4.4 tons of MDMA from a sprawling mansion in Griffith. The pills were hidden in cans of tomato shipped from Italy.
30 tons of marijuana - 2010
A month after Mexican authorities captured 105 tons of marijuana in Tijuana, U.S. law enforcement discovered a drug-smuggling operation between the United States and Mexico that resulted in the seizure of 30 tons of marijuana. Authorities busted the smugglers in the process of transporting 10 tons of weed under the border through a 600-yard tunnel.
13.8 tons of cocaine - 2005
On May 15, 2005, Colombian authorities seized $350 million worth of cocaine that was stashed on a jungle riverbank of the River Mira. At the time, Colombian national police chief General Jorge Castro said, "This is the biggest haul ever seized in the world in a single operation, in a single day and in a single place."
2.8 tons of MDMA & amphetamines - 2014
On November 14, 2014, Australian authorities seized 2.8 tons of MDMA and methamphetamine pills from a sea cargo container from Hamburg, Germany. The pills, with a street value of $1.5 billion, were concealed in furniture.
1,200 pounds of heroin - 1991
On June 21, 1991, authorities seized 1,200 pounds of heroin from a warehouse in Hayward, California. The China white heroin recovered -- worth approximately $3 billion on the street -- was described, at the time, as the largest heroin bust in U.S. history, according to U.S. Customs.
14 tons of cocaine - 2016
The U.S. Coast Guard seized 14 tons of cocaine in the eastern Pacific Ocean on April 8, 2016. The drugs had an estimated street value of at least $400 million.
260 tons of hashish - 2008
On June 11, 2008, Afghan counternarcotics agents discovered 260 tons of hashish, worth $260 million, buried in six-foot-deep trenches.
21 tons of cocaine - 1989
On September 28, 1989, law enforcement officials raided a 3,500-square-foot warehouse in Sylmar, California, that stored 21 tons of cocaine. The massive drug stash had a street value of $6 billion. What's more, $12 million in cash also was seized during the operation.
21 tons of cocaine - 2007
In what was described at the time as the largest drug bust ever at sea, Coast Guard officials boarded a suspicious vessel -- a Panamanian ship named Gatun -- and found 21 tons of cocaine in 2007.
105 tons of marijuana - 2010
Police in Tijuana, Mexico, arrested 11 people after seizing 105 tons of marijuana in 2010. The weed -- with a street value of $215 million -- was hidden in 10,000 packages, some of which sported a label of Homer Simpson saying, "I'm going to get high, dude!" in Spanish.