German police seize cocaine worth $833,000 in highway check

BERLIN – German police say they have seized 16 kilos (35.3 pounds) of cocaine with a street value of 678,000 euros ($833,000) during a check on a highway near the Dutch border.

Federal police said Wednesday that they found the drugs hidden in an Italian-registered Volvo being driven along the A61 highway near Moenchengladbach by a 28-year-old Albanian man.

The Albanian, who wasn’t identified, told police when they stopped him last Thursday that he had been visiting his sister in the Dutch city of Maastricht and was heading home to Italy. Police said he appeared nervous, sweating and with shaking hands.

The man was arrested and is being kept in custody pending possible charges.