Cocaine seizure in Gioia Tauro: 175 kg hidden in fish containers

Financial Police, Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria

GIOIA TAURO - The Reggio Calabria Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza, together with the Gioia Tauro Customs and Monopolies Agency, seized a shipment of over 175 kilograms of highly pure cocaine at the port of Gioia Tauro. This operation is part of a more complex and comprehensive plan of operations implemented throughout the Gioia Tauro port area, with intensified inspections and controls aimed at identifying, among the thousands of containers moved daily, those used by criminal organizations to conceal the drugs. Specifically, officers from the Gioia Tauro Group and Customs Agency personnel, as part of checks of the local port terminal to intercept potential shipments of narcotics imported by organized crime, selected and thoroughly inspected three containers, two of which were from Latin America and destined for Italy and Eastern Europe, carrying frozen octopus and shrimp, respectively.

Operational action carried out by the Guardia di Finanza and the Customs and Monopolies Agency

Specifically, the seized containers were first subjected to a thorough X-ray scan using the sophisticated scanning equipment provided by the Customs and Monopolies Agency, and then to a thorough inspection with the invaluable assistance of the canine units of the Gioia Tauro Guardia di Finanza Group. Following the checks, 154 blocks of cocaine, weighing over 175 kilograms, were discovered and seized. These blocks had been cleverly concealed inside the containers in an attempt to bypass the thorough customs and police checks systematically carried out at the Gioia Tauro port area . This is yet another success in the fight against international drug trafficking in the port of Gioia del Colle. It represents the consistent and effective joint operation of the Guardia di Finanza and the Customs and Monopolies Agency, which prevented the distribution of a shipment of cocaine to drug markets that could have generated significant profits for criminal organizations, estimated at approximately €30 million. The documents compiled during the operation have been forwarded to the Palmi Public Prosecutor's Office for the attention of Prosecutor Emanuele Crescenti and the magistrate on duty, for validation and subsequent investigation.

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