Undeclared money, drugs, counterfeit clothes: all seizures at ports and airports

From undeclared money hidden in oil containers, to drugs crammed into containers or shampoo bottles. Also, counterfeit clothing and electronic devices, oil, fuel and cigarettes.

These are just a few examples of what is seized between ports and airports in operations carried out by the staff of the Customs and Monopolies Agency and the Guardia di Finanza. The panorama is wide and the value is high.

The latest episode took place on 16 May at Fiumicino where, as part of a joint operation between officials of the Rome 2 Customs Office of the Customs and Monopolies Agency and the financial police, almost 200,000 euro were seized in the luggage of a passenger departing for China, hidden inside oil and crisp containers.

In the first four months of 2025, 288 violations of currency regulations have already been ascertained at the Roman airport, totalling more than 4 million euros undeclared, with the imposition of the relevant penalties. Not only, at Ciampino, during controls, currency worth over 10 thousand euro and 38 British gold coins, commonly known as 'golden pounds', corresponding to a value of about 28 thousand euro, were intercepted in the hand luggage of a passenger departing for the UK. In addition, in the luggage of another passenger, who was stopped and checked, about 24 thousand euro were found concealed inside tins of spillable chocolate.

Then there is the drugs side. In January, the Provincial Command of Reggio Calabria, in close synergy and collaboration with the personnel of the Customs and Monopolies Agency, seized 110 kilograms of 'very pure' cocaine at the Port of Gioia Tauro. If placed on the market, as underlined in a note by the Adm, the drugs would have yielded around 20 million euro.