Costa Concordia was carrying cocaine when sinking
The "Costa Concordia" was carrying a huge shipment of Mafia-owned cocaine when it set off on its final voyage, investigators have said.
Ndrangheta, a Calabrian crime syndicate, had its drugs hidden aboard the cruise ship in January 2012, phone and tape recordings of gang members have revealed. “The same ship that made us a laughing stock around the world, took the piss out of us, too,” Ndrangheta boss Michele Rossi was heard saying to an associate, Massimo Tiralongo, according to police officers investigating the organisation’s vast cocaine-trafficking operation.
In addition to vessels operated by Costa Cruises, ’Ndrangheta also placed its drugs on ships owned by MSC and Norwegian Cruise Lines, which travel between Europe, North America and the Caribbean, according to details of the criminal investigation revealed in La Repubblica.
Officers from the organised crime investigation group in Florence said that the drugs on the "Costa Concordia", which have not been found, were stowed aboard without the knowledge of senior officers or senior company officials, but almost certainly with the complicity of one or more crew members.
The "Costa Concordia" was carrying a huge shipment of Mafia-owned cocaine when it set off on its final voyage, investigators have said.
Ndrangheta, a Calabrian crime syndicate, had its drugs hidden aboard the cruise ship in January 2012, phone and tape recordings of gang members have revealed. “The same ship that made us a laughing stock around the world, took the piss out of us, too,” Ndrangheta boss Michele Rossi was heard saying to an associate, Massimo Tiralongo, according to police officers investigating the organisation’s vast cocaine-trafficking operation.
In addition to vessels operated by Costa Cruises, ’Ndrangheta also placed its drugs on ships owned by MSC and Norwegian Cruise Lines, which travel between Europe, North America and the Caribbean, according to details of the criminal investigation revealed in La Repubblica.
Officers from the organised crime investigation group in Florence said that the drugs on the "Costa Concordia", which have not been found, were stowed aboard without the knowledge of senior officers or senior company officials, but almost certainly with the complicity of one or more crew members.