The Italian Police this Monday dismantled a criminal network that exported hashish from the south of Spain through postal courier using the names of “non-existent” Pakistani citizens, as reported by the armed force.

The operation, in which 40 people have been arrested, has been carried out in several towns in Sardinia and in the regions of Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Abruzzo.. In addition to these locations, “the nerve center” of shipments was the city of Milan, according to authorities.

The agents have seized at these points a total of 660 kilos of hashish and cocaine valued at 15 million euros. According to the statement issued by the Italian Police, some 300 officers participated in the raid in which heavy packages were seized.. Among them, one of more than 90 kilos of hashish seized at the headquarters of an important courier company in Milan, whose owners were unaware of its contents.

Packages usually showed partially incorrect addresses agreed between the Spanish part of the network and the Italian part, causing courier companies to be forced to contact the recipients.. These used false names of Pakistani citizens, something that served as a warning that the merchandise had arrived.

The ringleaders, three men between 37 and 52 years old, also traveled to Spain to pay in advance for the merchandise, as well as to establish collaboration networks with international drug trafficking organizations in the south of the Peninsula, according to the joint investigation carried out. between the Carabineros and the Civil Guard.

The criminal group also trafficked cocaine that was supplied by “Albanian clans present in Italian towns” and who distributed the merchandise in cars with double bottoms driven by people who “took the risk” of traveling with the merchandise.