Italy seizes cocaine shipped from Brazil

The drugs were found hidden inside four tractors

Italian police say they have seized a tonne of pure cocaine, hidden inside four tractors shipped from Brazil.

They said the haul - with an estimated street value of up to 250m euros (£212m; $341m) - was their biggest in 15 years.

They made the discovery with the help of Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Police think the drugs were destined for central and northern Europe as well as Italy.

Salvatore Cagnazzo, the commander in charge of the investigation, told AFP news agency the cocaine was found inside the tractors in a container which was unloaded in the port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy.

Italian police say it is their biggest cocaine haul in 15 years

When they put the agricultural machinery through the scanners, he said, they discovered the drugs stashed in the metal tubes.

No arrests have been made.

Our correspondent in Rome, David Willey, says Gioia Tauro has been developed in recent years as one of Europe's biggest container ports and has become a major transit point for imports to Europe from China and South America.

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