Mafia scuba divers in Brazil drugs scam

(ANSA) - Rio de Janeiro, April 16 - The Sicilian Mafia is using professional divers to attach cocaine consignments to the hulls of ships sailing from Brazil to Europe, Brazilian federal police said Wednesday.
    Commissioner Osvaldo Scalezi Junior said the drugs were hidden in metal cases hooked to the submerged hulls of large ships.
    The cunning underworld stratagem was discovered during an investigation of organised crime gangs' activities in Brazilian ports, police sources said.
    Officers were alerted to the trick after finding two suitcases each containing 44 kg of cocaine floating in a river in the far northern Brazilian state of Vitoria do Jari'ad Amapa' on the border with French Guiana. Police believe those drugs had been attached to a ship berthed at the nearby port of Santana.