Colombian police have seized 12 tonnes of cocaine from the country’s top crime gang.
President Juan Manuel Santos described it as the largest single drug seizure in the nation's history.
The drugs were discovered stored underground when around 400 anti-narcotics police stormed four farms in a banana-growing area in northwest Antioquia province, near Colombia's border with Panama.
Worth €310 million, it's a record haul for Colombia. pic.twitter.com/7qpHdAjROM
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 9, 2017
Police estimate the value of the haul at around €310 million.
"Thanks to a police operation with overseas intelligence, from friendly countries, the largest seizure in history was made," Mr Santos said at a police base where the cocaine was put on display.
Mr Santos linked the cocaine to the drug-trafficking gang known as the Gulf Clan, which has become one of the biggest threats to security since peace was signed last year with Marxist-led FARC guerrillas.
The seizure comes as the US, Colombia's staunchest ally in the fight against drug trafficking, has raised concern over an increase in coca cultivation.
The government also faces criticism from opposition politicians for allowing new crime gangs to fill the void left by the FARC.
Mr Santos, who leaves office next year, has pledged to send 80,000 military and police to areas once controlled by the FARC in an attempt to prevent new trafficking gangs from taking hold.
Four people were arrested during the three-day operation leading to the drug seizure, according to a police statement.
The Gulf Clan is led by fugitive Dairo Antonio Usuga, known as Otoniel.
The US has offered a reward of up to $5m for information leading to his capture or death.
In addition to drugs, the gang deals in illegal mining and most of its estimated 1,500 members formerly served in the ranks of right-wing paramilitary groups.
Colombia is one of the world's leading producers of cocaine, with output of around 910 tonnes per year, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Police have confiscated 362 tons of cocaine this year.
