Italy: Police find cocaine worth $880 million concealed in banana crates

On Tuesday, police in southern Italy reported finding 2,700 kg of highly pure cocaine concealed in two refrigerator-shipped containers holding bananas from Ecuador. The cargo discovered in the port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria would have been worth more than 800 million euros ($880 million), according to a statement from Italy’s Guardia di Finanza police. The consignment originated in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and travelled from there to Armenia via the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi. With the aid of Joel, a sniffer dog, and specialised scanners, the drugs were found in the 12-meter (40-foot) canisters, the police said. Police said they had found a further 600 kg (1,320 pounds) of cocaine in the last few days in fruit containers from Ecuador being shipped through Gioia Tauro. These consignments had been destined for other parts of Italy, Croatia, Greece and Georgia, they added. Calabria is home to the ‘Ndrangheta, which has supplanted Sicily’s Cosa Nostra as Italy’s most powerful mafia organisation and plays a central role in the drugs trade. ($1 = 0.9084 euros) Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .