Customs officials arrested for helping 'Ndrangheta
Over 2.7 tonnes of cocaine seized during investigation
ROME, 20 February 2024, 11:31

ANSA English Desk

Two customs officials employed in the southern port of Gioia Tauro and an employee for a shipping company were arrested by finance police on Tuesday for allegedly helping Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia get drugs into Italy.
Sources said the officials alleged altered checks on cargo arriving in the port to help the crime syndicate, which experts say has become Italy's most powerful mafia thanks to its control of the European cocaine trade.
The three are accused of involvement in international drug trafficking.
A total of seven people are under investigation in the probe conducted by the Reggio Calabria DDA anti-mafia department with the support of Europol.
These include a third customs officer, who was arrested in another operation in 2022.

During the investigation, the finance police traced the arrival of five batches of cocaine between June 2020 and October 2022 for a combined total of three tonnes of narcotics.
Around 2.7 tonnes of that cocaine was seized.