The port of Gioia Tauro once again proves to be a pivotal hub not only for legitimate commercial traffic but also for criminal organisations attempting to penetrate international logistics networks. The latest incident, which took place on 28 March 2025, led to the seizure of a massive consignment of high-purity cocaine: 1,170 kilograms were intercepted thanks to a joint operation between the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza in Reggio Calabria and officials from the Customs Agency. The estimated street value of the shipment would have exceeded €187 million once distributed on the market. This is one of the largest drug seizures at the Calabrian port in the past decade, which, since the beginning of 2025, has already seen over two tonnes of cocaine intercepted.
The success of the operation stems from a meticulous and widespread enforcement plan covering the entire port area. Intelligence activities, coordinated between law enforcement and customs officials, focused on identifying high-risk containers among the thousands handled daily. Specifically, attention was directed at eleven suspicious containers that had originated from a port in southern Brazil and were en route to a company based in Reggio Calabria, having made a stopover in Spain. The inspections, carried out using Customs scanning equipment and with the support of the Guardia di Finanza’s sniffer dog units, led to the discovery of roughly a thousand blocks of cocaine concealed within sacks of combustible material.
