Italian authorities have intercepted Chinese Wing Loong military drones at the port of Gioia Tauro, intended for the forces of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.
According to "The Times," Italian police detained three containers loaded with weapons on June 18, offloaded from the cargo ship MSC Arena, which had arrived from China.
The publisher reported that a second suspicious shipment, consisting of more than three containers, was seized this past weekend aboard the MSC Apolline.
The drones, along with two control stations, were meant to be shipped to Benghazi, Libya, for delivery to Haftar. The containers were seized by order of a local judge in Italy.
The operation follows the indictment of two Libyans in Canada, Fathi Mahouk and Mahmoud Al-Sayeh, in April for conspiring to purchase Chinese drones for Haftar in exchange for Libyan oil shipments.
