Checks carried out by Police at crossings with France led to the seizure of around 230 kilogrammes of cocaine and the arrest of a Slovak lorry driver intercepted at the Ventimiglia border. According to the Border Police’s reconstruction, the articulated vehicle was stopped during an operation targeting irregular migration and cross-border crime, stepped up in recent days with additional patrols and support from the joint Italian-French task force.
The lorry, arriving from France, drew officers’ attention when the driver, on seeing the patrols beyond the motorway barrier, began driving erratically. Asked to pull over and present the vehicle and cargo documents, the man appeared nervous and tried to divert attention towards the trailer, showing the waybill and the intact seal on the rear door.
Instead, officers extended their search to the tractor cab, where they found seven sports bags and several canvas bags containing two hundred blocks of cocaine. The total weight of the substance came to roughly 230 kilogrammes. Investigators estimate that once placed on the market, the seized pure cocaine could have reached a value of up to 50 million euros. The vehicle and illicit cargo were seized. After being identified at the Ventimiglia Border Police offices, the driver was arrested on charges of international drug trafficking and transferred to Sanremo prison.
