500 kilos of cocaine found in Nespresso coffee bean shipment 

Swiss police seized more than 500 kilograms of cocaine from a shipment of coffee beans delivered to a Nespresso plant that had arrived by train.

The workers of the Nespresso plant in Romont called authorities on Monday, claiming that they had "found an undetermined white substance when they unloaded the freshly delivered sacks of coffee beans," said the police. Around 500 kilograms were discovered in five different shipping containers.

After analyzing the substance, the police determined that the unknown substance was cocaine and set up a security perimeter around the factory. Customs and border control agents were called to the scene.

An initial investigation indicated that the shipment of 80% pure cocaine might have originated in Brazil and is estimated at $51 million. 

"For Fribourg, it's definitely a big seizure; it's really quite exceptional. It's the first time we've had such a find," Marc Andrey, the town's head of security, said according to Euronews. "I think it's also one of the biggest seizures in Switzerland: not the biggest, but one of the biggest."

"It appears that all of the drugs were destined for the European market," police said. While Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, it is part of the Schengen zone that allows people to travel freely between European countries without a visa. 

The European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction said that the EU cocaine retail market was worth around $11.1 billion in 2020. However, the figure is likely higher, it added. 

None of the coffee shipment was contaminated, assured Nestle, the parent company of Nespresso. “All our products are safe to consume,” it said in a statement sent to the Associated Press. 

“We have strict quality controls in place for green coffee arriving at our warehouses right up to the finished product,” the company said. “The substance in question did not come into contact with any of our products or production equipment used to make our products.”