4.3 tons of cocaine was seized in the port of Trieste on Tuesday during a large-scale raid. 38 people were arrested in Italy, other European countries and Colombia. In addition, almost two million euros in cash was seized, according to the Italian police.
It was one of the largest anti-drug attacks in Europe. If the cocaine had been sold on the Italian market, it would have brought dealers at least €240 million. Several vehicles, including a truck and an SUV, worth more than €100,000 were also seized during the operation. The raid on Colombian drug dealers was coordinated by Trieste prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo.
Transnational Police Operation
Police officers in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Colombia took part in the police operation. The investigation, which lasted more than a year and was conducted in collaboration with the Colombian justice and police and the US Homeland Security Investigations Agency, reconstructed the close links in the chain from South American cocaine producers to dealers in Europe. In Italy, the latter belong to well-known organized crime groups in the regions of Veneto, Lombardy, Lazio and Calabria.
The detectives used employees who smuggled themselves into the dealer organization. The deliveries of medicines from Colombia, which were processed between May 2021 and May 2022, were monitored. A large number of dealers operating in Italy and abroad have been identified, it said.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
