Italian police have seized 14 tons of amphetamines, allegedly produced in Syria by the Islamic State group to fund extremist activities and destined for the European illegal drug market.
Customs Police Col. Domenico Napolitano on Wednesday called the discovery of three shipping containers crammed with around 85 million pills, in the southern port of Salerno, the biggest amphetamine seizure ever made worldwide.
Napolitano said on Italian state radio that investigators believe the drug's production provides IS with vital revenue for its militant activities. Investigators hypothesize that amphetamine production in Europe was hampered by the pandemic lockdown, and so drug traffickers might have turned to Syria-based producers to fill the market.