RABAT, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Moroccan authorities foiled on Sunday an international attempt to smuggle 541 kg of cocaine at the port of the financial city of Casablanca.

According to a statement from the Moroccan Interior Ministry, the banned substance was concealed in a shipping container from South America.

The operation led to the arrest of 6 people, including the mastermind of this criminal network, a Brazilian national, the statement said.

Five cars intended to be used for the transport of the drug were also seized aw well as large sums of money in national and foreign currencies, it added.

The preliminary investigation reveals the dangerous nature of this criminal network, its transnational ramifications and links with cartels in Latin America, which now exploit the strategic location of the Kingdom as a transit point to Europe, the same source pointed out.

Investigation is underway to arrest all the people involved in this drug-trafficking attempt, it noted.

Moroccan security services have seized a record 2.84 tons of cocaine in 2017, 1.5 tons more than the amount seized last year.