The Gorgona Class Transport Ship (named as Moto Trasporto Costiero – MTC) ITS CAPRERA A 5349 had aboard more than 700 kg of contraband cigarettes, a total of 3,600 cartons in 72 boxes, according to the website of TV programme Le Iene.
The ship CAPRERA, which had once been part of the Italian navy’s former Mare Nostrum rescue operation in the Mediterranean, had spent 108 days in Libya assisting the Libyan coast guard to identify departing vessels carrying migrants bound for Italy.
When the CAPRERA returned to the southern Italian naval base of Brindisi on 16th July, the commander ordered a complete search that revealed the crates of foreign cigarettes, according to a statement from the navy.
The cigarettes have been seized and a judicial inquiry and internal investigation has begun.
The ship CAPRERA, which had once been part of the Italian navy’s former Mare Nostrum rescue operation in the Mediterranean, had spent 108 days in Libya assisting the Libyan coast guard to identify departing vessels carrying migrants bound for Italy.
The cigarettes had been discovered after a routine check when the vessel docked at Brindisi on July 16th this year. A member of the navy was stopped by Italy’s financial crime police, the Guardia di Finanza (GdF), carrying a bag full of the cigarettes on the same night. The GdF then seized the rest. The investigation continues.
Images below are of the vessel berthed at Valletta back to August 2005 –
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
