Customs officers have seized drugs worth some €11 million after homing in on a container in transit at Malta Freeport. 

The huge discovery was made on Monday night but was only announced on Wednesday.

The Customs Department said its inspectors had flagged a container for inspection due to its suspicious route. The container was dispatched from a South American country and stopped in Malta en-route to the Middle East.

It was declared to be carrying 532 drums of waterproofing compound. Officials from the Customs Scanning Team scanned the container and noticed irregularities.

Manual inspection confirmed that six drums contained plastic bags full of white substance, in paste form, submerged in an oily liquid. 10kgs of this paste were found in each drum, for a total amount of 60kgs which turned out to be cocaine.

Testing on Tuesday showed it to have a purity of 100%.

"Due to its level of purity, the seizure is conservatively calculated to have a street value between €9 million and €11 million when added with other agents," the department said.

It said this seizure was unique in its intricate nature. "It is definitely the first of its kind in Malta, probably in Europe too."

Investigations are continuing.