Twelve persons were arrested in Sicily in a police raid on a drug trafficking ring which included the transport of cocaine and marijuana to Malta, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The 12 are to be charged with offences including drug trafficking and conspiracy.
The group trafficked drugs in the Syracuse area and also transported it to Malta. The drugs used to be brought from Albania, Holland, and the Italian regions of Calabria and Puglia.
The report says that three of the men were arrested as they unloaded carton boxes containing 240 kilogrammes of hashish.
Italian police seized some €5 million worth of drugs, ANSA reported.