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.
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