The congressman son of the jailed former President, Alberto Fujimori, is at the centre of a drug-trafficking storm after being linked to cocaine with a street value of £1.6m recently discovered in a port warehouse.

Kenji Fujimori, 33, initially claimed that he had sold his stake in Limasa, the storage company that runs the warehouse, and whose capital is reported to have grown tenfold in 18 months to £250,000. But he changed his tune after a Limasa director, Miguel Ramirez, said the politician was still a partner.

“I am a minority shareholder,” Mr Fujimori told local television. “I have 21 per cent of the shares, therefore I cannot take administrative decisions.” He added that as a storage company, Limasa “has no criminal responsibility for the discovery of an illegal cargo”.

Download the new Independent Premium app Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Rosa Mavila, an independent leftist congresswoman, called for an investigation. “For too long there have existed rumours of legislators responding to the interests of drug-traffickers.”

The drugs were discovered hidden in a shipment to Mexico of barbecue sets in the port of Callao on 11 March. The director of the company dispatching the shipment has been arrested.