Huge cocaine shipment swapped with salt to catch traffickers

[Judi Lynn]

Huge cocaine shipment swapped with salt to catch traffickers
Largest drugs haul in Italy in 25 years comes after sting operation involving Colombia and Spain

Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo

@lorenzo_tondo
Thu 31 Jan 2019 13.19 EST

Italian police have taken possession of more than two tonnes of cocaine in the largest drugs seizure in the country in 25 years, after a sting operation involving three other nations across two continents.

The drugs, discovered in 60 bags in a cargo container at the Port of Genoa, have a total value of €500m (£436m) and were found with the help of the British, Colombian and Spanish police.

The cocaine belongs to various drug-trafficking organisations associated with an organised armed group known as the “Gulf Clan”, which makes use of contacts in numerous European ports where drug expeditions are carried out. The container set off from Colombia and arrived in Genoa last week and was then destined for Barcelona in Spain.

To catch the traffickers in Barcelona, the Italian investigators replaced the cargo of drugs - 1,801 bricks of pure cocaine - with salt and let it continue on its journey. In the Catalan city, Spanish police arrested the alleged recipient of the shipment, a 59-year-old Spaniard.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/31/two-tonnes-of-cocaine-seized-at-italian-port

[Blue Owl]

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