Some Italian drug investigators have reportedly seized more than 3 tons of raw cocaine during a raid in the Port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria, on Friday.
Almost 2.3 tons of the drugs was found on New Year’s Eve in containers in which bananas, peanuts and pepper were shipped to Italy from South America, according to the Financial Police.
In the same vein, around 850 kilograms of cocaine was reportedly discovered hidden under bunches of bananas in an articulated lorry.
The authorities arrested the driver.
It was reported that the cocaine was to be cut with other substances to yield up to four times its volume before being sold.
The criminals would have made about 1 billion euros (1.13 billion dollars) with this amount of drugs, the investigators calculated.
Calabria is home to the ‘Ndrangheta, one of the most powerful and dangerous Mafia organisations in Europe and, according to industry experts, one of the largest cocaine importers in the world.
(dpa/NAN).
