A crew of 11 Montenegrins attempted to smuggle 20 tons of hashish across the Mediterranean before they were intercepted by Italy's maritime police, Italian authorities said on Thursday.

Officials estimate the drug's value at somewhere between €150 million and €200 million ($173 million and $231 million).

Read more: Last puff of pot for foreigners in Dutch hash houses

"The Mediterranean Sea again is confirmed to be one of the world's largest arteries for illegal trafficking," police said. "The results of the operation are the fruit of attentive intelligence gathering and analysis of the ship's routes."

Suspicious Montenegrins

The research and survey vessel Remus was sailing from the Canary Islands towards Turkey, but police noticed the ship had turned off its position transmitter close to the North African coast. Italian authorities obtained permission from officials in Panama before moving in to detain the Panama-flagged vessel in international waters.

According to the police, crew members aboard the ship were behaving suspiciously, prompting the authorities to escort Remus to port in Palermo. Once there, police drained the vessel's fuel tanks to find 650 sacks containing compressed cannabis resin. All 11 members of the crew were arrested for international drug trafficking.

Morocco in northern Africa is the world's biggest producer of hashish. Police believe the drugs were likely destined for the European market.

Watch video 04:39 Share Spain: A City and a Drug Smugglers‘ Haven Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2yX8j Spain: A City and a Drug Smugglers‘ Haven

dj/amp (dpa, AFP)</s>ROME (Reuters) - Italian police said on Thursday they found 20 tonnes of hash worth as much as 200 million euros ($232 million) in the fuel tanks of a Panama-flagged ship that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily.

The entire 11-person crew, all from Montenegro, was arrested for international drugs trafficking, Italy’s finance police said in a statement.

The research and survey vessel Remus left the Canary Islands bound for Egypt and Turkey, but police surveillance showed it had turned off its position transmitter near the coast of North Africa, raising investigators’ suspicions.

With the permission of Panamanian authorities, Italian finance police seized the vessel in international waters on July 31 and escorted it to Palermo. There the fuel tanks were drained and the hash was discovered wrapped in sealed brown bags.

“The Mediterranean Sea again is confirmed to be one of the world’s largest arteries for illegal trafficking,” the police statement said. “The results of the operation are the fruit of attentive intelligence gathering and analysis of the ship’s routes.”

The North African hashish — compressed cannabis resin — was probably destined for the European market, police said. Morocco is the world’s largest producer of hashish, which is usually smuggled into Europe through Spain, according the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.</s>Palermo, August 9 - Finance police in Palermo said Thursday that they have seized 20 tonnes of hashish and the Panama-flagged ship that was transporting it. They also arrested the crew - 11 people from Montenegro. Officials boarded the vessel in international waters and it was escorted to the port for an inspection that uncovered the drugs with a estimated value of between 150 and 200 million euros.</s>Hashish seized by the Spanish Civil Guard on a ship off the coast of Spain in September 2016. Spanish Guardia Civil / AFP

Eleven Montenegrins who hid more than 20 tonnes of hashish worth up to 200 million euros ($232 million) in a rescue ship's diesel tanks have been arrested, Italian police said Thursday.

The Guardia di Finanza (GDF) finance police said they arrested the suspects early Thursday in Palermo after escorting the Panamanian rescue boat to the Sicilian capital.

They raided the boat at sea after observing suspicious activity near the north African coast, the GDF said in a statement.

The drugs were found hidden in two of the boat's diesel tanks after the police emptied all 400,000 litres (100,000 gallons) of the fuel held in the ship's 18 tanks, purportedly meant for migrant ships in distress.

The diesel was also confiscated.

Colonel Francesco Mazzotta from the Palermo branch of the GDF told AFP that the drugs were most likely destined for the European market.

He could not say whether the diesel was also being smuggled for sale on the 

 black market.

"The boat is one that is used to offer help to other ships in difficulty, that's why they have so much fuel storage capacity and why the crew used the tanks to hide the drugs," Mazzotta said.

"Had they been subject to checks at sea it would have been impossible to find the drugs because it is too dangerous to empty the tanks when the boat is not docked."

Mazzotta could not say whether the suspects had links to the Sicilian Mafia or other Italian organised crime groups.

The GDF descended on the vessel overnight on July 31 five days after it set sail from the Canary Islands port of Las Palmas.

They had noted that the on-board transmitter that allows the boat's movements to be tracked was switched off repeatedly over the course of its voyage.

Once on board, the GDF said, the captain and 10 crew members could not state the purpose of their trip or say where they were going, despite having declared Tuzla, Turkey, as their destination via the Egyptian city of Alexandria when they set off.

In Palermo, where the GDF was able to safely empty and inspect the diesel tanks, they discovered 650 jute bags containing hashish of 13 different qualities estimated to be worth between 150 million and 200 million euros.

Mazzotta said the haul was one of the "biggest yet" for the Palermo GDF as part of the international anti-drug trafficking initiative "Libeccio International", which has seized 139 tonnes of narcotics worth more than 1.4 billion euros in the past four years.

Europol, the anti-drug trafficking Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre in Lisbon, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and Montenegran police cooperated in the bust.</s>Italian police said on August 9 that they found 20 tons of hashish worth up to 200 million euros in the fuel tanks of a ship manned by Montenegrins that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily.

The drugs were packed in 650 sacks and hidden in two tanks, police said. The entire 11-person Montenegrin crew of the Panama-flagged ship was arrested on charges of international drug trafficking, police said.

The research and survey vessel Remus left the Canary Islands bound for Egypt and Turkey, but police surveillance showed it had turned off its position transmitter near the coast of North Africa, raising investigators' suspicions.

With the permission of Panamanian authorities, Italian police said they seized the vessel in international waters on July 31 and escorted it to the Sicilian port of Palermo. There, the fuel tanks were drained and the hash was discovered wrapped in sealed brown bags.

"The Mediterranean Sea again is confirmed to be one of the world's largest arteries for illegal trafficking," the police statement said, crediting "attentive intelligence gathering" for identifying and intercepting the hash-carrying ship.

The hashish -- which is compressed cannabis resin -- came from North Africa and probably was destined for the European market, police said.

Morocco is the world's largest producer of hashish, which is usually smuggled into Europe through Spain, according the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Based on reporting by dpa and Reuters</s>ROME:- Eleven Montenegrins who hid more than 20 tonnes of hashish worth up to 200 million euros ($232 million) in a rescue ship's diesel tanks have been arrested, Italian police said Thursday. The Guardia di Finanza (GDF) finance police said they arrested the suspects early Thursday in Palermo after escorting the Panamanian rescue boat to the Sicilian capital. They raided the boat at sea after observing suspicious activity near the north African coast, the GDF said in a statement.–

The drugs were found hidden in two of the boat's diesel tanks after the police emptied all 400,000 litres (100,000 gallons) of the fuel held in the ship's 18 tanks, purportedly meant for migrant ships in distress.

The diesel was also confiscated.</s>Drugs have a propensity to destroy lives and are difficult to let go once you test them

ROME/JOHANNESBURG. – Italian police said yesterday they found 20 tonnes of hashish (cannabis) worth as much as 200 million euros ($232 million) in the fuel tanks of a Panama-flagged ship that was stopped in international waters and escorted to Sicily.

The entire 11-person crew, all from Montenegro, was arrested for international drug trafficking, Italy’s finance police said in a statement.

The research and survey vessel Remus left the Canary Islands bound for Egypt and Turkey, but police surveillance showed it had turned off its position transmitter near the coast of North Africa, raising investigators’ suspicions.

With the permission of Panamanian authorities, Italian finance police seized the vessel in international waters on July 31 and escorted it to Palermo. There, the fuel tanks were drained and the hash was discovered wrapped in sealed brown bags.

“The Mediterranean Sea again is confirmed to be one of the world’s largest arteries for illegal trafficking,” the police statement said. “The results of the operation are the fruit of attentive intelligence gathering and analysis of the ship’s routes.”

The North African hashish – compressed cannabis resin – was probably destined for the European market, police said. Morocco is the world’s largest producer of hashish, which is usually smuggled into Europe through Spain, according the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

In a related matter, joint operations between South Africa’s Hawks, police led to the seizure of R8 million in drugs, and the arrest of 2 officers

Police caught a man in possession of drugs with an estimated street value of R5m on a bus in King Williams Town, Eastern Cape on Wednesday.

Police spokesperson Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said yesterday that the 39-year-old man was arrested after police followed up on information that he would be travelling with the drugs on a bus to Johannesburg.

Mawisa said the bus was stopped and searched on the R346 road in King Williams Town.

“The man tried to get rid of a black plastic (bag) that was in front of him.

“Police members got suspicious and searched him and recovered 1 573 mandrax tablets, cocaine weighing 8.92kg and tik (methamphetamine) weighing 7.35kg, to the street value of more than R5m,” Mawisa said.

The man, who is charged with possession of drugs, is expected to appear in the King Williams Town Magistrate’s Court today. – Reuters/News24/HR
Italian police seize 20 tonnes of hashish in a Panama-flagged, Montenegrin-crewed "research and survey" vessel's fuel tanks.