Italian police discover $440m worth of cocaine floating in the sea off Sicily

Italian tax and customs police announced on Monday that they discovered nearly 2 tonnes of cocaine floating in the sea off the coast of eastern Sicily, with a market value of over 400 million euros ($440 million).

The Guardia di Finanza referred to the seizure as a “record.” The drugs were stored in about 70 waterproof packages, each sealed securely, tied together with fishing nets, and equipped with a luminous signaling device, according to the police statement.

The statement further stated that the “unusual packaging methods and the presence of a luminous device for tracking” indicated that the cargo ship may have dumped the stash at sea, intending to retrieve it later.