Italy, U.S. target cocaine smuggling ring that united NY Mafia

ABOVE: CBS News cameras accompanied an FBI team in Italy which acted as part of a joint Italian-U.S. anti-Mafia crackdown 

MILAN, Italy – A joint Italian-U.S. anti-Mafia blitz is underway with numerous arrests reported on both sides of the Atlantic.

Italian anti-Mafia police said the “New Bridge” operation targeted a new cocaine trafficking route from South America to the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro that united the U.S. branch of the Sicilian Mafia with the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate.

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Officials said undercover agents in both countries prevented the delivery to Italy of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine hidden in shipments of coconuts and pineapples during the two-year investigation. They also confiscated heroin and marijuana.

U.S. and Italian authorities were seeking 26 suspects, including a member of the Gambino crime family in New York who authorities said negotiated the new smuggling route.

Gioia Tauro in Calabria is one of Europe’s largest shipping ports.

WATCH: Italy, U.S. work together to target massive international drug smuggling ring