https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...esi-livorno-sempre-piu-porto-dei-narcos/the routes of crime
'Ndrangheta and Albanians, Livorno increasingly a "drug port"
The latest seizure is two tons. Prosecutor Agnello: "It is the main port of entry for cocaine into Europe"
Published: 2025-04-27 – 18:53
LAMEZIA TERME The latest (enormous) seized load certifies the numbers of the last year, which make the port of Livorno the second most important in Italy, behind only Gioia Tauro . In short, data in hand, the port of Livorno has become an essential point of reference for South American drug lords who, through the 'ndrangheta, allow the sale of large quantities of very pure cocaine.
The last kidnapping
The latest episode that took place in the Tuscan port is particularly striking, emblematic of the extent of the phenomenon: two tons of pure cocaine, divided into 1,800 blocks, with an estimated value of 500 million euros once cut and placed on the market. The drug, as reconstructed by the Finance Police and Customs agents, was hidden in a dry container where cocoa powder had also been loaded. It had been loaded onto the cargo ship Mersin Express from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Prosecutor Agnello: «Livorno an international hub»
"Even though in this case the port of Livorno was only a transit port for cocaine destined for Spain, it has carved out a role for itself as an international hub for drugs arriving from South America, overtaking the port of Gioia Tauro." This was underlined in an interview with "La Nazione" , the chief prosecutor of Livorno, Maurizio Agnello. "Gioia Tauro," the prosecutor underlined, "is a port mainly dedicated to containers, therefore more easily controlled. Livorno is divided into multiple traffics between passengers, containers and other, with half a dozen gates that are more complex to monitor. Despite this, surveillance is tight as this latest seizure demonstrates."
The latest kidnappings
The huge load, therefore, was destined for Spain and specifically for the port of Barcelona, ??an increasingly strategic hub for the storage of cocaine arriving from South America and then distributed to Europe. Bolivia, Peru and Colombia are currently the countries with the highest production of cocaine which, sold to organised crime, is destined for storage and shipping ports on the Atlantic in Ecuador and Chile. The main brokers are Albanian exponents and, in most cases, individuals linked to the Calabrian 'ndrangheta.
Last January 21, 217 kilos of very pure cocaine were seized at the port of Livorno, divided into almost 200 blocks with a commercial value on the drug dealing markets of over 60 million euros. The blocks of cocaine, explain the men of the Guardia di Finanza supported by the Customs agents, were hidden inside a container containing wood, unloaded from a cargo ship coming from South America and headed, needless to say, to Calabria.
Furthermore, in November 2024, a blitz coordinated by the District Anti-Mafia had led to the arrest of 30 people , all believed to be part of a criminal association aimed at international drug trafficking and involved in a series of episodes of importation, transportation and sale of drugs, of which 23 ended up in prison. The investigation activity had allowed the seizure of over 2 tons of cocaine, 45 kilos of hashish, 20 kilos of marijuana. Narcotics that - once on the market - would have earned around 70 million euros to the criminal gang. ( g.curcio@corrierecal.it )
