Italy seizes remote-controlled submarine from smugglers
ROME, Italy (AFP) – Italian police announced Tuesday the seizure of a remote-controlled submarine likely intended to transport drugs as part of an international drug trafficking network.
Investigators made the unusual discovery during probes into suspects based in Turin in northern Italy, who were cultivating marijuana under the cover of managing car wash stations.
“The traffickers had, amongst other things, designed and tested a small remote-controlled submarine, probably designed to transport the drugs,” a statement from the Carabinieri police said.
They attached a video taken during surveillance operations showing the submarine, which is just a few metres long, operating on the surface of a body of water.
The network, headed by two brothers of Albanian origin, operated between Ecuador, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy, according to the same source.
The police reported seizing a total of 204 kilogrammes (450 pounds) of cocaine and hashish during the course of the investigation.