Investigators and the Italian air force had been monitoring a merchant ship for several days, which was lurking at the edge of Italian territorial waters. On Wednesday, they saw a fishing boat depart from the coast of Calabria and head for the ship. As the trawler approached the ship, large packages were brought on deck and thrown overboard, then picked up by the fishing boat crew
The police then raided and found the drugs. Both ships were intercepted. The packages with drugs were found in a secret room on board the fishing boat. The boat’s occupants were arrested. It concerns two Tunisians, an Italian, a Frenchman and an Albanian. The merchant ship was escorted by the navy to the port of Palermo.