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Police said it was one of the largest such seizures in Europe
and came at the end of an international investigation that
resulted in arrest warrants being issued for 38 people in six
countries: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands
and Colombia.
The investigation lasted more than a year and involved both the
Colombian judiciary and U.S. Homeland Security. Besides the
cocaine, police also confiscated 1.85 million euros in cash.
Colombian authorities said last November they were focused on
breaking up the Clan del Golfo gang, whose network extends to 28
countries around the world, after the capture of the group's
leader, Dairo Antonio Usuga, alias "Otoniel", in October.
"Another hard blow to the most important group among Colombian
narcotics gangs," Italian investigators from the northeastern
city of Trieste said of the seizure.
They said their work had uncovered a "dense network" of ties
between South American cocaine producers and European buyers,
who answered to organised crime groups operating across Italy,
including in Calabria, home of the 'Ndrangheta mafia.
They said police had followed 19 consecutive deliveries of drugs
from May last year, enabling them to identify "important
middlemen" in the global drug trafficking system and a
"substantial number" of carriers.
Further details were due to be given at a news conference later
on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.9348 euros)
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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