Italian Navy transport vessel Nave Caprera was used to smuggle cigarettes on the return trip from Libya where the ship was deployed in support of an EU migrant interdiction mission.
The ship reportedly returned to the Italian Navy base Brindisi with over 700 kg of cigarettes on board.
This was confirmed by the Italian Navy on September 19 after several media reports on the incident.
According to the navy, the cigarettes were seized on September 15 by the Italian financial crime unit Guardia di Finanza in cooperation with the Brindisi port authority and the ship’s commander.
The ship spent a little under four months in Tripoli where it supported the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard by providing logistical and technical maintenance for Libyan vessels.