Peru seizes 3 tons of cocaine mixed with guano

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Drug agents in Peru say they have seized 3 tons of cocaine mixed into a shipment of guano bound for Spain.

A four-month investigation led to the seizure at a warehouse in the capital of Lima, anti-drug police Col. Cesar Cortijo said Monday.

Cortijo said the drugs belonged to a trafficking ring that smuggled cocaine out of the country mixed with other products. Four Peruvians and a Colombian were arrested.

Police delayed announcing the Dec. 4 raid because it was initially impossible to calculate how much cocaine was mixed with the guano, the nitrogen- and phosphate-rich droppings of birds and bats.

Cortijo said the cocaine was destined for Barcelona, Spain.

Peru is the world's largest producer of coca and cocaine after Colombia, and it is also a major source of guano, harvested from excrement-stained islands off its southern coast. Most is used as fertilizer in Peru's fields, but some is shipped overseas, where it is a favorite among organic gardeners.