TUNIS - (Xinhua) - Tunisian customs announced on Wednesday that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle more than 14 kilograms of cocaine in the port of Zarzis, in the southeastern governorate of Medenine.

And the customs said in a statement today that "following an information work by the interests of the General Administration of Customs, according to which a person intends to enter a quantity of narcotic substances through a Tunisian port, a work team affiliated with the various customs control services was assigned to follow up the information."

She added that she subjected a suspicious car that came to the port of Zarzis from the port of Marseille, France, and was driven by a Tunisian citizen residing abroad, to a thorough inspection, and found inside it 14 plates weighing a total of 14.45 kilograms of cocaine.

It went on to say that the drugs were "tightly hidden under the speed converter".

She explained that the suspect stated that he was going to deliver the car to a person residing in a city in the south, noting that preliminary investigations had been carried out to apprehend him.

The Public Prosecution ordered that the file be referred to the relevant security services to continue investigations, according to the statement.

During the past months, Tunisian customs were able to thwart more than one drug smuggling attempt, as they seized large quantities of cannabis (cannabis), cocaine and other narcotic substances, the latest of which was on the fifth of August, when about 39,000 narcotic pills were seized. "Ecstasy" by a passenger at Tunis-Carthage International Airport.