Italian drug gang caught smuggling high-quality cocaine concealed in Parmesan cheese

The Guardia di Finanza in Turin dismantled the crime gang suspect of large-scale cocaine trafficking across Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Sicily and Sardinia.

Ten arrests were made and more than 100 kilos of cocaine was seized, which was hidden in massive wheels of Parmesan cheese.

The Italian military police service first started investigating the organisation early last year with their focus on the 37-year-old Albanian leader and nine co-defendants, who mainly operated in Piemonte region.

Investigations established that the criminal organisation was buying large quantities of cocaine from abroad, mainly in the Netherlands, and transported to Italy in trailers.

The drugs were then stored in storage locations, mainly in Piedmont and other parts of northern Italy. The drugs were the distributed across various Italian regions, via couriers and a large fleet of vehicles.

Several drug shipments were intercepted, including 100 kilos of what was discovered to be high purity cocaine in a motor home and 25 kilos hidden in five wheels of Parmesan cheese.

According to the authorities, the estimated street value of drugs is at least 20 million euros.