Italy intercepts 400 kilos of cocaine bound for Kosovo

ROME — Italian border police said Tuesday they seized more than 400 kilograms of cocaine from South America in a joint operation with Kosovar and Albanian authorities.

The drugs, with an estimated market value of more than 100 million euros ($122 million), were first detected at the port of Gioia Tauro, in the southern Italian region of Calabria.

They were hidden in a container coming from Santos, Brazil “officially containing chicken,” the Guardia di Finanza border police said in a statement.

Italian authorities decided to let the container continue its journey and arrive at its final destination in Lipjan, Kosovo.

There, Italian, Albanian and Kosovar police intervened and arrested 25 people, including seven charged with international drug trafficking.

Italy is known as a key hub for the illegal drugs trade, and its fearsome ‘Ndrangheta mafia, based in Calabria, controls most of the cocaine entering Europe.