Customs officials in the German port of Hamburg have seized cocaine with an estimated street value of €145 million.

Rene Matschke, head of the Hamburg customs investigation office, said the cocaine - the largest single seizure of the drug in Germany to date - had a very high degree of purity, news agency dpa reported.

The haul - weighing 1,580lbs - was seized on January 18 after it was found in a shipping container from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

Mr Matschke said that an international gang was behind the cocaine shipment and that there was a hostage-taking linked to the drugs in the Netherlands on Monday.

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