Cargo ship intercepted due to various smuggling suspicion
The "Meryem" was intercepted in international waters off the Italian coast by the Italian drug enforcement agency and military forces, after coordinating an arrest with Turkish authorites, on the suspicion of drug trafficking, and taken to Palermo on June 4, 2015.
The Italian police staged the operation in the Strait of Sicily in cooperation with Turkish, French, Egyptian, Spanish, Moroccan and Europol law enforcement.
The hashish valued at an estimated EUR 40 million was seized by the Italian authorities.
The ten Turkish sailors on board have been detained, though the authorities have not revealed their identities. The vessel was also suspected in human trafficking.
The vessel arrived at the port of Palermo , escorted by vessels and aircraft of the Guardia di Finanza, the Turkish ship "Meryem", stuck in the afternoon yesterday in international waters west of Trapani and loads of drugs.
The operations of collision at sea were conducted, after careful observation activities carried out even at a distance from aircraft, from men of the Air-Naval Operational Command of the Guardia di Finanza in Pratica di Mare, which employed in this operation two patrol boats and a Coast Guard, as well as an aircraft ATR 42.
After securing the boat was carried out in the port of the regional capital, where the military intervened in the Tax Police of Palermo for the searches and the seizure of the drug.
The operation succeeded in tracing the hold about 400 packages, each weighing about 30 kilograms of hashish. The 10 crew members were arrested. The operation was possible thanks to international collaboration between II Department of the General Command of the Guardia di Finanza, the Central Directorate for anti-drug services, Ce.Clad. OCRTIS and French with the support of Europol, Spanish Guardia Civil, MAOC Lisbon, Moroccan authorities, Turkish and Egyptian Anti-Drug Agency (Anga).
The "Meryem" was intercepted in international waters off the Italian coast by the Italian drug enforcement agency and military forces, after coordinating an arrest with Turkish authorites, on the suspicion of drug trafficking, and taken to Palermo on June 4, 2015.
The Italian police staged the operation in the Strait of Sicily in cooperation with Turkish, French, Egyptian, Spanish, Moroccan and Europol law enforcement.
The hashish valued at an estimated EUR 40 million was seized by the Italian authorities.
The ten Turkish sailors on board have been detained, though the authorities have not revealed their identities. The vessel was also suspected in human trafficking.
The vessel arrived at the port of Palermo , escorted by vessels and aircraft of the Guardia di Finanza, the Turkish ship "Meryem", stuck in the afternoon yesterday in international waters west of Trapani and loads of drugs.
The operations of collision at sea were conducted, after careful observation activities carried out even at a distance from aircraft, from men of the Air-Naval Operational Command of the Guardia di Finanza in Pratica di Mare, which employed in this operation two patrol boats and a Coast Guard, as well as an aircraft ATR 42.
After securing the boat was carried out in the port of the regional capital, where the military intervened in the Tax Police of Palermo for the searches and the seizure of the drug.
The operation succeeded in tracing the hold about 400 packages, each weighing about 30 kilograms of hashish. The 10 crew members were arrested. The operation was possible thanks to international collaboration between II Department of the General Command of the Guardia di Finanza, the Central Directorate for anti-drug services, Ce.Clad. OCRTIS and French with the support of Europol, Spanish Guardia Civil, MAOC Lisbon, Moroccan authorities, Turkish and Egyptian Anti-Drug Agency (Anga).