1.5 metric tons cocaine destined for Spain

Peruvian police made their biggest cocaine seizure in almost three years, impounding 1.5 metric tons destined for Spain. The shipment was intercepted off the country's northern coast, Interior Minister Luis Alva Castro told reporters today in Lima. Police arrested four Ecuadoreans and seized weapons, vehicles and communications equipment, he said. Police have confiscated 5.6 tons of cocaine so far this year, almost equivalent to the Andean country's average annual seizures, Police Chief Octavio Salazar said. The most recent operation netted the biggest haul since police uncovered a 2.2- ton shipment in 2005. Peru is the world's second-largest producer of coca leaf, the basis of cocaine.