<p>Italian authorities have seized a record 5.3 tonne cocaine haul being transferred between ships off the southern coast of Sicily, police said on Friday.</p>.<p>The consignment had an estimated value of <b>€</b>850 million ($946 million) and five people have been arrested, the <em>Guardia di Finanza</em> said in a statement.</p>.<p>Police had been tracking a ship that sailed from South America and swooped in the early hours of Wednesday, when a surveillance aircraft spotted packages being thrown from its deck into the waters of the Strait of Sicily to be collected by a waiting fishing trawler.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/more-than-30-arrested-in-latest-italy-raid-against-ndrangheta-mafia-1231779.html">More than 30 arrested in latest Italy raid against 'Ndrangheta mafia</a></strong></p>.<p>They stopped the trawler and found large quantities of drugs in a hidden compartment behind some panelling on the vessel. Two Tunisians, an Italian, an Albanian, and a French national were arrested.</p>.<p>Sicilian regional president Renato Schifani praised the operation as a blow against drug smuggling.</p>.<p>"Drugs are a scourge of our society fuelled by unscrupulous men who sow death by crushing hopes and destroying many families," he said in a statement.</p>.<p>In April, Italian police had found almost 2 tonnes of cocaine floating at sea off eastern Sicily which they believe had been left by a cargo ship for collection.</p>.<p><em>($1 = 0.8986 euros)</em></p>
<p>Italian authorities have seized a record 5.3 tonne cocaine haul being transferred between ships off the southern coast of Sicily, police said on Friday.</p>.<p>The consignment had an estimated value of <b>€</b>850 million ($946 million) and five people have been arrested, the <em>Guardia di Finanza</em> said in a statement.</p>.<p>Police had been tracking a ship that sailed from South America and swooped in the early hours of Wednesday, when a surveillance aircraft spotted packages being thrown from its deck into the waters of the Strait of Sicily to be collected by a waiting fishing trawler.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/more-than-30-arrested-in-latest-italy-raid-against-ndrangheta-mafia-1231779.html">More than 30 arrested in latest Italy raid against 'Ndrangheta mafia</a></strong></p>.<p>They stopped the trawler and found large quantities of drugs in a hidden compartment behind some panelling on the vessel. Two Tunisians, an Italian, an Albanian, and a French national were arrested.</p>.<p>Sicilian regional president Renato Schifani praised the operation as a blow against drug smuggling.</p>.<p>"Drugs are a scourge of our society fuelled by unscrupulous men who sow death by crushing hopes and destroying many families," he said in a statement.</p>.<p>In April, Italian police had found almost 2 tonnes of cocaine floating at sea off eastern Sicily which they believe had been left by a cargo ship for collection.</p>.<p><em>($1 = 0.8986 euros)</em></p>