Italian police have seized two drones reportedly disguised as wind turbine parts off the region of Calabria.
The discovery, by Italy's customs police, was made last month, but was only made public by Italian media this week.
“Six containers, three of which were transiting on the MSC Arina, were shipped from China and destined for Libya,” the Guardia di Finanza, Italy’s financial police, announced on its website on Tuesday. There was an expectation that these containers carried parts for wind turbine assembly. However, sections of drones were found hidden amongst the supposed parts.
Libya has been under an arms embargo for many years. The country has been plagued by war since the overthrow and death of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Power is currently divided between rival governments in Tripoli, in the east, and Benghazi, in the west. The seized drone parts could have exacerbated this conflict, prompting the intervention by Italy.
According to the report, the parts on the MSC Arina were seemingly bound for Benghazi, which serves as base for warlord Khalifa Belqasim Haftar – an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Danish daily Jyllands-Posten suggested that this was precisely why US intelligence services informed Italy.
Following the inspection, the ship was reportedly allowed to continue its journey as originally planned.
