FALCON POWERS – The Italian police and customs authorities said on Tuesday that the authorities have seized two Chinese-made military drones that were on their way to Libya, as they were hidden among wind turbine equipment.
The police and customs authorities said in a joint statement that the authorities found the two drones dismantled in six containers at the port of Gioia Tauro in the Calabria region of southern Italy, and they were hidden among the blades of wind turbines. The statement added that the authorities seized the drones because Libya, which is engulfed in civil war, is subject to an international arms embargo.
This statement seems to confirm a report published last month by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, which indicated that the interception operation took place in Gioia Tauro on June 18 after a tip from US intelligence.
The newspaper reported that the authorities seized the drones on board a container ship coming from the port of Yantian in southern China and heading to the port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, which is controlled by the military leader Khalifa Haftar.
Libya has slipped into a state of chaos since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a revolt backed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2011, and it is currently divided between two rival governments in the east and west.
