GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Authorities at Guyana's main airport have found roughly 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of cocaine in a suitcase aboard a New York-bound flight.

It's the latest in a string of cocaine-stuffed suitcases intercepted on flights to New York this year at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

Anti-narcotics official James Singh said today the drugs were found in a checked suitcase aboard a Caribbean Airlines plane. The drugs were found late Saturday after the flight had boarded.

Police have detained eight employees of the airline and the airport.

Twelve airport employees were fired earlier this year after someone threw a bag with 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of cocaine over a perimeter fence.

US officials say Guyana is a transit point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe.

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