Italian police stop plan to smuggle $1.7m in cocaine using banana shipments
The group had ties to notorious mafia group ‘Ndrangheta which is based in the southern Calabria region, the 54 people arrested were detained in different parts of Italy, the country’s authorities said, according to Reuters.
The group was allegedly conspiring to import about 8 metric tons, or 17,637 pounds, of cocaine from Colombia into Europe via seaports and airports in Calabria, which is at the southern tip of the Italian mainland.
A “test run” of 139 pounds of cocaine was found hidden in a load of bananas in the port of Livorno, in central Italy, according to Italian police.
The ‘Ndrangheta is highly active in the drug trade, and the group has extensive links to criminal groups and drug traffickers in Latin America.
To see footage of the arrest and the confiscated drugs, click here to view it at Business Insider.
