Off the wire
• Chinese Defense Minister meets Russian counterpart  • Pakistan summons Indian envoy over LoC firing  • 1st LD Writethru: France's Eiffel Tower's stairway section sold for half mln euros  • Roundup: Environmentalists push for protection of Congo Basin forests  • Spotlight: In search of ancestral roots -- a chronicle of a Chinese-Peruvian family  • U.S. stocks open lower amid economic data  • WWF says roads, dams, tiger farms, poaching threat to tiger survival in Greater Mekong region  • Namibia's anti-corruption environment still evolving: report  • Pakistan PM condemns deadly Indian unprovoked firings  • EU commissioners should run in election without stepping down, proposes Juncker  
You are here: 　 Home

Italian police arrest 45 in major operation against drug trafficking

Xinhua, November 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Italian police arrested 45 people in an operation to break up a drug trafficking ring operating in the northern city of Milan, local media reported on Wednesday.

All those arrested were charged with international drug trafficking, and were Italian nationals and citizens of South American countries, according to ANSA news agency.

The ring is believed to have trafficked cocaine from Peru and The Netherlands hidden in the seams of bags and transported on flights, while marijuana was illegally imported from Albania, police told a press conference on Wednesday.

The South American nationals were allegedly in charge of shipping and selling the drugs in some northern districts of Milan while the Italians are thought to have been responsible for carrying out trade in several towns north of the major city.

All of the arrests were carried by the Milan Flying Squad on Tuesday, and was the result of a three-year investigation launched in Nov. 2013.

In the first phase of the operation, police arrested 19 people and seized 580 kg of marijuana, over 33 kg of cocaine, some six kg of hashish, plus 18,000 euros (about 19,000 U.S. dollars) in cash.

A further arrest of an Italian national linked to the drug trafficking ring, and the seizure of eight kg of cocaine were carried out in June 2014, police added.

This was the second major international drug trafficking operation carried out in Italy in the last few weeks.

On Nov. 10, Italian police arrested 15 people suspected of smuggling drugs from Colombia to Spain, and then into Italy, and laundering the profits.

This drug-trafficking organization allegedly involved Italians, Colombians, and Guatemalan citizens. The drug trade was based in Rome, according to investigators. Three Italian nationals were accused of being the ringleaders.

The latest part of this operation was conducted by Italian police's Central Operational Office (SCO) and Finance Unit in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Endit