Italy busts surfer drug smuggling ring

Italian police said Monday they had busted a ring of smugglers who attempted to traffic cocaine from Latin America to Europe by hiding it in surf boards and a sailing boat.

Published: 3 December 2013 07:55 CET

A total of 330 kilograms of cocaine were seized from surf boards at Santiago airport. Photo: Marcus Melendez/AFP

The police said they had arrested 19 people – 16 Italians, 2 Peruvians and a Colombian. In all, 24 people are under investigation.

A total of 330 kilograms of cocaine were seized from surf boards at Santiago airport in Chile and another 330 kilograms were found in a large, specially-adapted sailing boat stopped in Venezuela.

Two kilograms of cocaine were also discovered in the buttons of a Peruvian poncho mailed to Florence in central Italy.

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