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Italian authorities seized over 2,000 kilograms of pure cocaine hidden in a container aboard a Turkish-owned cargo vessel at the port of Livorno, marking another significant blow to international drug trafficking operations, officials announced Wednesday.
The cocaine, divided into 1,800 packets and concealed within cocoa powder, was discovered on the Mersin Express cargo ship arriving from Guayaquil, Ecuador. The seized drugs have an estimated street value exceeding 500 million euros ($567.3 million).
The Livorno Customs Anti-Fraud Department (ADM) and the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) conducted the operation through their daily systematic monitoring of cargo arriving and transiting through the port.
The successful seizure resulted from the tight synergy, resources, and experience deployed by the Customs and Monopolies Agency and Livorno's Financial Police through continuous and methodical monitoring of goods arriving and transiting through the port.
Investigators revealed that the drugs would have also reached Florence as part of the distribution network. The narcotics have already been analyzed by the local Customs and Monopolies Agency laboratory and destroyed at an incinerator in Tuscany.
The operation was coordinated by the Florence Anti-Mafia District Directorate (DDA) and the Livorno Public Prosecutor's Office, with investigations continuing to identify those responsible for the trafficking and reconstruct the criminal organization's supply chain.
Livorno Chief Prosecutor Maurizio Agnello emphasized the significance of the seizure, stating the port has become a crucial hub for international drug trafficking.
"Two tons of pure cocaine, worth over 400 million euros: it's obviously not possible that this was an impromptu transport, which is why we sent all the investigation files to the DDA," Agnello said. "This seizure proves that Livorno has become the main port of entry for cocaine in Europe. Livorno was an intermediate stop, obviously the cargo wasn't destined here, but we now understand it's an important stop in that international drug trafficking controlled by the 'ndrangheta or Albanian organized crime."
Spanish authorities report the shipment passed through the ports of Vigo, Malaga, and Valencia without detection before reaching Italy. The vessel's first European port of call was in Galicia in early March, with the cargo reportedly belonging to multiple criminal groups.
The latest seizure adds to a concerning pattern involving Turkish-owned vessels. According to Turkish media reports, this marks the seventh Turkish-owned ship caught with drugs in the past three years, with total seizures amounting to at least 28 tons worth billions of dollars.
The vessel belongs to a Türkiye-based company identified as A., with the ship designated as M.E. Another vessel from the same company was involved in a drug seizure operation in November. Italian and Albanian criminal groups are believed to own the seized cocaine, valued at nearly $600 million in market value.
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