SKOPJE, Macedonia, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Macedonian police confiscated 882 pounds of cocaine hidden in a truck trying to cross from Serbia into Macedonia, media said Monday.
The cocaine was Macedonia's biggest ever drugs seizure, police said.
Macedonian Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said the cocaine's street value was estimated at $52 million, Serbia's Beta news agency reported.
Jankulovska said the truck, driven by a Macedonian national, was stopped Sunday at the Blace crossing point, north of Skopje, on a main road from Serbia's Kosovo province into Macedonia.
The minister said the drug reportedly was transferred from the south Italian port town of Bari across the Adriatic Sea to Montenegro's port of Bar and hidden in 60 paint canisters and stashed in the truck.
Jankulovska said the truck reportedly was on its way from Montenegro and was destined to Greece, via Kosovo and Macedonia.
The Macedonian driver was detained by police for an investigation.
Macedonian Customs Director Vanco Kargov said the cocaine was uncovered based on a tip by officials of the U.N. mission in Kosovo about a suspicious cargo in a truck, Beta said.
