Guatemalan authorities report 5-tonne cocaine bust

Guatemalan authorities seized roughly 5 tonnes of cocaine at a port, a seizure among the largest in the past 12 years, the government said Wednesday.

The operation, conducted in Puerto Quetzal on Sunday, uncovered over 4,900 kilograms (10,800 pounds) of cocaine hidden among seven containers loaded with sacks of flour, Guatemala's Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The seizure is "the largest done in a single operation" within the past 12 years, the ministry added.

Transhipment of drugs through Central America by international cartels and their local partners has contributed to a sharp uptick of criminal violence in the region.

According to US authorities, 90 percent of the cocaine arriving in the United States passes through Mexico and Central America in trucks, planes, boats, and submarines.