Argentine Police have seized two tonnes of cocaine in the port city of Bahia Blanca in Buenos Aires province, local media reported on Monday.

After a three-month-long investigation, the drugs were found in steel coils inside a container located at a warehouse within an industrial park.

The drugs, the largest seizure in Argentina’s recent history, were estimated to have a value of about $60m and were headed to Spain and Canada.

Fifteen people – including a woman – were arrested. Four Mexicans, among those detained, were accused of belonging to a dangerous drug trafficking gang based in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

Local media said at least 50 mobile phones were intercepted while the drugs crossed from Chile to Argentina. A first raid was carried out in the province of Mendoza, in Lujan de Cuyo. Police found 500 kilos of cocaine hidden in a warehouse there, together with cash, vehicles and weapons.

Argentina has mostly avoided the drug violence seen in Colombia and Mexico, but it is now the fifth largest trafficking point of cocaine en route to Europe and Asia, according to the United Nations.

Argentina does not produce the drug itself but cocaine from Bolivia, Peru and Colombia pass through its borders.

Reuters