Some traffickers have tried to smuggle drugs by hiding them in statuettes depicting Buddha.
Some traffickers tried to smuggle drugs through Malpensa airport . But it ended badly for them because they were arrested. Among the people involved was also a goldsmith from Milan. It was a drug trafficking that extended beyond the borders of Italy. The concealment method was truly refined and well studied .
A 47-year-old man was stopped and arrested by the Guardia di Finanza at Malpensa airport in Milan . He is accused of international drug trafficking . The officers also handcuffed an accomplice , a goldsmith from Milan, who was responsible for guarding the merchandise. He was supposed to keep it, hiding it , among the dust in his laboratory .
Ecstasy to make figurines
According to what emerged from the investigations of the Carabinieri, the dealer, in about four months , shipped 61 kilograms of ecstasy . In the period between December 2022 and April 2023, drug trafficking involved Australia , the United States and Italy . The estimated profit by the police is around 10 million euros .
The method of concealment was ingenious . The drug underwent a particular transformation process . No pills , but with special tools it was pressed and worked by expert hands, so that it could be used in the creation of small statues . The shape was that of teddy bears or, alternatively, that of Buddha .
After creation , the finished product was well packaged and transported through the shipping organization set up by the trafficker. The departure of the shipment varied, rotating between the cities of Novara , Milan and Varese. The drug trafficker was intercepted by the authorities just as he was about to leave , destination Bangkok .
The investigation began when a package was seized by the German customs police . It turned out to have been sent by an Albanian man living in the province of Varese . Of course, this was a cover-up, because the real sender was the trafficker who was later imprisoned .
Over 60kg of drugs seized
From that first check, the interceptions of all the shipments began , from the end of 2022 until the capture. The Guardia di Finanza agents found many kilos of drugs , over 60 in total . In collaboration with the Central Directorate for Anti-Drug Services , they seized 9 of them , between Italy and the United States .
As for the payments , they were made through accounts opened on money transfer, or with cryptocurrencies . The 47-year-old drug trafficker is Italian, as is the goldsmith living in Milan, his accomplice. According to investigators, this character was initially above suspicion .
Instead, he was the custodian of all that merchandise that had remained unsold . He hid it by mixing it with the powders he used in the laboratory for the fusion of precious metals. However, it did not remain hidden from the infallible nose of the drug-sniffing dog Jack , who immediately picked up the ecstasy .
