NOUAKCHOTT , Mauritania ( Reuters ) -- Mauritanian police found 1,896 lbs ( 860 kilograms ) of cocaine hidden beneath sacks of rice in a parked minibus in the West African country 's biggest drug bust , police said late on Monday . The region has become a major hub for Colombian cocaine being trafficked to highly lucrative markets in Europe , where illegal use of the white powder is a growing problem and street prices are significantly higher than in the United States . Mauritanian authorities made the find while investigating who was behind the smuggling of a previous batch of more than 600 kilograms of cocaine seized after a small plane made an emergency landing at the northern port of Noudhibou in May . `` During our investigations we noticed a parked minibus which looked different from other such vehicles even though it had registration plates from this country , '' Police Commissioner Ely Ould Sneiba , director of the country 's anti-drugs office , said . `` The investigating judge ordered the police to search the minibus and inside they found 21 , 50-kg sacks full of cocaine hidden beneath sacks of rice , '' he said . The drugs were packed in 761 bricks , each weighing by 1.13 kg . Four people were detained in the operation , including one person from Mauritania and one from Western Sahara , which is claimed by Morocco , itself known as a major source of smuggled hashish . Law enforcement officials say Guinea-Bissau , which adjoins Mauritania 's southern neighbor Senegal , is a major hub in a network of sea , land and air routes spanning the Atlantic and much of Africa which are used by Latin American drugs gangs to ferry their valuable contraband to Europe and the Middle East . E-mail to a friend . Copyright 2007 Reuters . All rights reserved.This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten , or redistributed .
Police in Mauritania find nearly 100 lbs of cocaine hidden beneath bags of cement . It was the West African nation 's biggest drug bust ever . The evidence suggests the region has become a distribution hub for Colombian cocaine . Authorities were investigating another drug case when they found the cache .