ROME: Italian police said on Friday they had uncovered a drug trafficking ring that used clothes dipped in liquid cocaine to smuggle the drug into Italy from the Dominican Republic. Jumpers and jackets coated in cocaine were smuggled in regular suitcases through Rome's Fiumicino airport, the customs police said, as it announced the results of a drug bust in which 37 people were arrested. Pictures issued by the police showed officers handling innocuous-looking and neatly-folded jumpers that were said to have been dipped in the drug. The customs police said it had busted “an international criminal organization” operating in Britain, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain. The organization “was divided into 15 criminal groups” that operated autonomously, the Guardia di Finanza police force said in a statement. It also seized 75 kilograms (165 pounds) of cocaine and two drug labs. Those arrested included 14 Italian nationals and four citizens of the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United States, the police said.
