(ANSA-AFP) - ROME, MAY 18 - Italian border police said
Tuesday they seized more than 400 kilogrammes of cocaine from
South America in a joint operation with Kosovar and Albanian
authorities. The drugs, with an estimated market value of more
than 100 million euros ($122 million), were first detected at
the port of Gioia Tauro, in the southern Italian region of
Calabria. They were hidden in a container coming from Santos,
Brazil "officially containing chicken," the Guardia di Finanza
border police said in a statement. Italian authorities decided
to let the container continue its journey and arrive at its
final destination in Lipjan, Kosovo. There, Italian, Albanian
and Kosovar police intervened and arrested 25 people, including
seven charged with international drug trafficking. Italy is
known as a key hub for the illegal drugs trade, and its fearsome
'Ndrangheta mafia, based in Calabria, controls most of the
cocaine entering Europe. (ANSA-AFP).
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