The greatest heroin seizure of the last twenty years was carried out at the Port of Genoa. 270 kilos of heroin was found in a container coming from Iran after a long investigation by the Italian police, assisted by the staff of the Customs Agency. The container had ultimate destination the Netherlands.
According to local reports, once the drugs was seized, the Italian police organised and executed the first controlled delivery of heroin outside Italy. Under the coordination of law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities of Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, an operation took place that ended with the arrest of two people.
On 17 October, drug containers were disembarked from the cargo ship, which had departed from Iranian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, and stopped in Hamburg, Germany and Valencia, Spain before reaching Genoa, where 31 containers. From the examination of their bills of lading, 3 containers loaded with bentonite, a clayey mineral powder, appeared to be of particular interest.
In agreement with the District Anti-Mafia and Antiterrorism Department of Genoa, the search took place and then the 270 kilos of heroin, worth about 10 million euros, were found in one of the containers.
Then, a small amount was left in place and the investigators were able to follow the load on its journey to Europe through Switzerland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
After that it was loaded onto a tug that was discretely followed by the police, and after a three-day trip, the operation concluded on 2 November. The cargo arrived in a warehouse in the Netherlands, with a different address from the one the documents were indicating.
On 2 November, the Dutch police, together with the Italian forces, raided inside the warehouse, arresting two people from Turkey and the whole operation was completed.
