Pubdate: 17 Feb 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. SWEDEN SEIZES RECORD COCAINE HAUL STOCKHOLM, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Swedish customs authorities seized 243 kg (536 lb) of cocaine hidden in a banana container from Costa Rica, a record haul for the country with a street value of $126 million, officials said on Wednesday. Inspectors in the western port of Gothenburg discovered the cocaine in an eight-centimetre (three-inch) deep space separated by a dummy wall in the container. The bananas were unloaded at Gothenburg, and normally such a container would have been sent back empty. Customs head of surveillance Frank Ranieli said it was uncertain if the cocaine had been loaded in Costa Rica. "The cocaine we have tested was about 81 percent pure and is estimated to have a street value of about one billion crowns ($126 million)," he told Reuters. ($17.929 Swedish Crown) - --- MAP posted-by: Mike Gogulski