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Italian police launched a major anti-mafia operation on Monday, seizing some 120 kg of cocaine in the port of Gioia Tauro in Southern Italy, local media reported.
In a separate operation over the weekend, authorities also seized gambling companies and other assets worth 25 million euros (28 million U.S. dollars) allegedly run by the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate.
The cocaine was found inside a shipping container full of Brazilian cafe at the Gioia Tauro port in the Calabria region, which was due to be shipped further north to the port of Trieste, police said.
Once sold on the market, the 120 kg of cocaine would be worth some 24 million euros, the AGI news agency reported citing investigative sources.
The Gioia Tauro port in the Mediterranean is among the busiest transshipment ports in Europe.
It is also believed to be a crucial hot spot for illegal activities run by the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta mob, which is currently seen as far richer and more dangerous than the Sicilian mafia and the Naples-based Camorra.
International drug trafficking, especially cocaine, would be a core business for the 'Ndrangheta, whose annual turnover was estimated at some 53 billion euros according to a 2013 Demoskopika research institute study.
The other anti-mafia operation last Friday targeted 21 gambling companies based in Italy and abroad, 31 online betting sites, and at least 36 between buildings and real estates of the 'Ndrangheta or people connected to the group, local media said.
Friday's crackdown was ordered by prosecutors of the Anti-Mafia District Directorate (DDA) in Reggio Calabria, and carried out by Italy's military and finance police, following a major round of arrests carried out in the initial phase of the operation in July.
On July 22, prosecutors had in fact issued 41 arrest warrants, and seized assets worth 2 billion euros in raids on the ' Ndrangheta's alleged gambling empire.
Among the assets targeted in July were 1,500 betting shops, 82 gambling websites, 45 Italian companies, and 11 foreign firms, plus several properties, according to a police statement.
Of the gambling firms overall seized so far, some would have been operating from Malta, Romania, Spain, Panama, and the Dutch Caribbean islands, police said.
According to prosecutors, the gambling business would serve mobsters both as a source of income, and as a major channel to launder illicit money. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars) Enditem
