Thirty years in prison for trafficking cocaine on cruise ship

Italian media report that three people involved in drug trafficking have been sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment and fined €180,000 for importing ten kilos of cocaine from South America through a crew member of the cruise ship MSC Armonia. The judge sentenced each individual to ten years in prison and a €60,000 fine. The court accepted the request made by public prosecutor Angela Masiello, who had sought the maximum sentence for the three suspects. Four other people were also implicated in the case, including a sailor from the cruise ship, which had departed from Punta del Este, Uruguay, and arrived at the port of Venice on April 6, 2009.

According to investigators from the Guardia di Finanza, one person organized the cocaine shipment from South America to Italy. Investigators were able to intercept the import of the ten kilos of cocaine by monitoring a suspect living in Milan.

They listened to his phone calls and planted bugs to record conversations in private rooms, eventually discovering that the cocaine was being transported to Venice by cruise ship from Uruguay. After arriving in Venice, the 28-year-old sailor—who was also convicted—was instructed to deliver the cocaine to a hotel in Venice. 

During his initial interrogation, the sailor claimed that the ship's cook, who had disembarked in Buenos Aires due to illness, had asked him to take the drugs to Venice and deliver them to a person who had contacted him by phone. In exchange, he was promised €10,000. The other suspects were later identified and arrested by police.